God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. ^(B)A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Psalm of ^(B)Asaph. A Song.

Saul Tries to Kill David

19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. ^(A)But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. ² And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” ⁴ And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king ^(B)sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. ⁵ For ^(C)he took his life in his hand ^(D)and he struck down the Philistine, ^(E)and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against ^(F)innocent blood by killing David without cause?” ⁶ And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, ^(G)“As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” ⁷ And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence ^(H)as before.

⁸ And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. ^9 (I)Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. ^(J)And David was playing the lyre. ^10 (K)And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

^11 (L)Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ^12 (M)So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. ¹³ Michal took ^(N)an image^[a] and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. ¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ And when the messengers came in, behold, ^(O)the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. ¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. ^(P)Why should I kill you?’”

¹⁸ Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at ^(Q)Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. ¹⁹ And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, ^(R)the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, ^(S)and they also prophesied. ²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, ^(T)and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, ^(U)and they also prophesied. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in ^(V)Ramah.” ²³ And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. ^(W)And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ^24 (X)And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, ^(Y)“Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹⁴ Here ^(A)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(B)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(C)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(D)parents for their children. ^15 (E)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(F)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(G)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(H)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (I)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(J)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(K)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(L)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(M)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹ I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(N)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(O)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

Final Warnings

13 ^(A)This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established ^(B)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ^2 (C)I warned ^(D)those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that ^(E)if I come again I will not spare them— ³ since you seek proof that Christ ^(F)is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but ^(G)is powerful among you. ⁴ For ^(H)he was crucified in weakness, but ^(I)lives by the power of God. For ^(J)we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you ^(K)we will live with him by the power of God.

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. ^(L)Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that ^(M)Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷ But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad when ^(N)we are weak and you are strong. Your ^(O)restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come ^(P)I may not have to be ^(Q)severe in my use of ^(R)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Final Greetings

¹¹ Finally, brothers,^[a] rejoice. ^(S)Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^{[b] (T)}agree with one another, ^(U)live in peace; and the God of love and ^(V)peace will be with you. ^12 (W)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (X)All the saints greet you.

^14 (Y)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^(Z)the love of God and ^(AA)the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.