Old/New Testament

The Death of Samuel

25 ^(A)Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled ^(B)and mourned for him, and they buried him ^(C)in his house at ^(D)Ramah.

David and Abigail

Then David rose and went down to ^(E)the wilderness of Paran. ² And there was a man in ^(F)Maon whose business was in ^(G)Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. ^(H)He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; ^(I)he was a Calebite. ⁴ David heard in the wilderness that Nabal ^(J)was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. ⁶ And thus you shall greet him: ^(K)‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. ⁷ I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, ^(L)and they missed nothing all the time 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 come ^(M)on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. ¹⁰ And Nabal answered David's servants, ^(N)“Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? ^(O)There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. ¹¹ Shall I take ^(P)my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to ^(Q)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 ^(R)about four hundred men went up after David, ^(S)while two hundred ^(T)remained with the baggage.

¹⁴ But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. ¹⁵ Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, ^(U)and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. ¹⁶ They were ^(V)a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, ^(W)for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such ^(X)a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs^[a] of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. ¹⁹ And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, ^(Y)so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has ^(Z)returned me evil for good. ^22 (AA)God do so to the enemies of David^[b] 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 ^(AB)and got down from the donkey ^(AC)and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, ^(AD)“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 ^(AE)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal^[c] 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, ^(AF)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ^(AG)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from ^(AH)saving with your own hand, now then ^(AI)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now let this ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)a sure house, because my lord ^(AL)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 ^(AM)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^[d] 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 ^(AN)working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

³² And David said to Abigail, ^(AO)“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, ^(AP)who have kept me this day from bloodguilt ^(AQ)and from working salvation with my own hand! ³⁴ For as surely ^(AR)as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(AS)who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” ³⁵ Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, ^(AT)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, ^(AU)he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart ^(AV)was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing ^(AW)at all until the morning light. ³⁷ In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸ And about ten days later ^(AX)the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ^(AY)“Blessed be the Lord who has ^(AZ)avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, ^(BA)and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. ^(BB)The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and ^(BC)spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she rose ^(BD)and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of ^(BE)Jezreel, ^(BF)and both of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

David Spares Saul Again

26 ^(BG)Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” ² So Saul arose and went down to ^(BH)the wilderness of Ziph with ^(BI)three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. ³ And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, ⁴ David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. ⁵ Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with ^(BJ)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within ^(BK)the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.

⁶ Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother ^(BL)Abishai the son of Zeruiah, ^(BM)“Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” ⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within ^(BN)the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground ^(BO)at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. ⁸ Then Abishai said to David, ^(BP)“God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” ⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand ^(BQ)against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?” ¹⁰ And David said, ^(BR)“As the Lord lives, ^(BS)the Lord will strike him, or ^(BT)his day will come to die, ^(BU)or he will go down into battle and perish. ^11 (BV)The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But take now the spear that is ^(BW)at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” ¹² So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because ^(BX)a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

¹³ Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. ¹⁴ And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” ¹⁵ And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. ¹⁶ This thing that you have done is not good. ^(BY)As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was ^(BZ)at his head.”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David's voice and said, ^(CA)“Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” ¹⁸ And he said, ^(CB)“Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? ¹⁹ Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^(CC)for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in ^(CD)the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ ²⁰ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek ^(CE)a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹ Then Saul said, ^(CF)“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” ²² And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. ^23 (CG)The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. ²⁴ Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” ²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will ^(CH)succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

^32 (A)“Fear not, little ^(B)flock, for ^(C)it is your Father's good pleasure to give you ^(D)the kingdom. ^33 (E)Sell your possessions, and ^(F)give to the needy. ^(G)Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ^(H)a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ^34 (I)For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready

^35 (J)“Stay dressed for action^[a] and ^(K)keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ and be like men who are ^(L)waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ^(M)knocks. ^37 (N)Blessed are those servants^[b] whom the master finds ^(O)awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ^(P)he will dress himself for service and ^(Q)have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ^39 (R)But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ^(S)the thief was coming, he^[c] would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ^(T)ready, for ^(U)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, ^(V)are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is ^(W)the faithful and ^(X)wise ^(Y)manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ^43 (Z)Blessed is that servant^[d] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, ^(AA)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(AB)is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and ^(AC)get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come ^(AD)on a day when he does not expect him and ^(AE)at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ^47 (AF)And that servant who ^(AG)knew his master's will but ^(AH)did not get ready ^(AI)or act according to his will, will receive a ^(AJ)severe beating. ^48 (AK)But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ^(AL)will receive a light beating. ^(AM)Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division

^49 (AN)“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ^50 (AO)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how ^(AP)great is my distress until it is accomplished! ^51 (AQ)Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? ^(AR)No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(AS)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, ^(AT)“When you see ^(AU)a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵ And ^(AV)when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be ^(AW)scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(AX)You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷ “And why ^(AY)do you not judge ^(AZ)for yourselves what is right? ^58 (BA)As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, ^(BB)you will never get out until you have paid the very last ^(BC)penny.”^[e]