Old/New Testament
The Death of Samuel
25 (A)Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and (B)lamented for him and (C)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the (D)wilderness of Paran.
David and Abigail
2 Now there was a man in (E)Maon whose work was in (F)Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, 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 good in insight 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, come to Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘[a]Have a long life; (J)peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 So now I have heard (K)that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us; and we have not dishonored them, (L)nor have they missed anything 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 [b]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son, to David.’”
9 Then David’s young men came and spoke to Nabal according to 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 [c]whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men went back on their way and returned; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about (P)four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred (Q)stayed with the baggage.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to [d](R)greet our master, and he rushed at them angrily. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (S)dishonored, nor did we miss anything [e]as long as we went about with them, while we were in the field. 16 (T)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them shepherding the sheep. 17 So now, know and see what you should do, for evil is decided against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [f]vile man that no one can speak to him.”
Abigail’s Discernment
18 Then Abigail hurried and (U)took two hundred loaves of bread and two [g]jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and [h]five seahs of roasted grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to her young men, “(V)Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 So it was happening, 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; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely for a lie I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has (W)returned me evil for good. 22 (X)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, (Y)if by morning I leave as much as one [i]male of any who belong to him.”
23 Then Abigail saw David; so she hurried and dismounted from her donkey and fell on her face [j]before David (Z)and bowed herself to the ground. 24 And she fell at his feet and said, “On me [k]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 Please do not let my lord [l]pay attention to this [m]vile man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. [n]Nabal is his name, and wicked foolishness is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
26 “So now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from [o]shedding blood, and (AA)from saving yourself by your own hand, so now, (AB)let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27 So now let (AC)this [p]gift which your servant-woman has brought to my lord be given to the young men who [q]went about with my lord. 28 Please forgive (AD)the transgression of your maidservant; for (AE)Yahweh will certainly make for my lord an enduring house because my lord is (AF)fighting the battles of Yahweh, and (AG)evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 And should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your [r]life, then the [s]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Yahweh your God; but the [t]lives of your enemies (AH)He will sling out [u]as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And it will be that when Yahweh does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and (AI)appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 then this will not [v]cause stumbling or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having saved himself. (AJ)When Yahweh deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
32 Then David said to Abigail, “(AK)Blessed be Yahweh, the 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 [w]bloodshed and from saving myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, (AM)who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one [x]male.” 35 So David received 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 your voice and [y](AO)granted your request.”
36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding (AP)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, (AQ)for he was very drunk; so (AR)she did not tell him anything small or great 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 as a stone. 38 Now it happened that about ten days later, (AS)Yahweh smote Nabal, and he died.
Abigail Becomes David’s Wife
39 Then David heard that Nabal was dead, so he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has (AT)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and (AU)has kept back His servant from evil. Yahweh has also returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent [z](AV)a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 Then the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” 41 And she arose (AW)and bowed with her [aa]face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a servant-woman (AX)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then (AY)Abigail hurried and arose, and she rode on a donkey, with her five young women who [ab]went about with her; and she went after 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 Now Saul had given (BB)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from (BC)Gallim.
David Takes Saul’s Spear
26 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “(BD)Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before [ac]Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him (BE)three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before [ad]Jeshimon, (BF)beside the road. Now David was staying in the wilderness, and (BG)he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 4 So David sent out spies and knew that Saul was certainly coming. 5 David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, as well as (BH)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David answered and said to Ahimelech (BI)the Hittite and to (BJ)Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who (BK)will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has surrendered your enemy into your hand; so now, please let me strike him with the spear [ae]to the ground with one stroke, and I will not [af]strike him the second time.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for (BL)who can send forth his hand against the anointed of Yahweh and be without guilt?” 10 David also said, “As Yahweh lives, (BM)surely Yahweh will smite him, or (BN)his day will come that he dies, or (BO)he will go down into battle and be swept away. 11 (BP)Yahweh forbid that I should send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because (BQ)a [ag]sound sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. 14 And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, all of you [ah](BR)must surely die because you did not keep watch over your lord, the anointed of Yahweh. So now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.”
17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “(BS)Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” 18 He also said, “(BT)Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 19 So now, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If (BU)Yahweh has incited you up against me, (BV)let Him [ai]accept an offering; but (BW)if it is [aj]men, cursed are they before Yahweh, for (BX)they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 So now, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to search for (BY)a single flea, just as one pursues a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “(BZ)I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.” 22 And David replied, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 (CA)Now Yahweh will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but (CB)I was not willing to send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh. 24 Now behold, as your life was (CC)highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of Yahweh, and may He (CD)deliver me from all distress.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “(CE)Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So (CF)David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
32 (A)Do not fear, (B)little flock, for (C)your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.
33 “(D)Sell your possessions and give it as charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, (E)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For (F)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be Ready for His Coming
35 “(G)Gird up (H)your loins, and keep your lamps lit. 36 And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find (I)awake when he comes; truly I say to you, that (J)he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 (K)Whether he comes in the [a]second watch, or even in the [b]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
39 “(L)But [c]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be [d](M)broken into. 40 (N)You too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not [e]expect.”
41 Now Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or (O)to everyone else as well?” 42 And (P)the Lord said, “(Q)Who then is the faithful and prudent (R)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his [f]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that (S)slave whom his [g]master finds so doing when he comes. 44 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master [h]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will (T)receive many beatings, 48 but the one who did not (U)know it, and committed deeds worthy of a beating, will receive but a few. (V)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
Not Peace, but Division
49 “I [i]have come to cast fire upon the earth, and [j]how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a (W)baptism to [k]undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! 51 (X)Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, (Y)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.”
54 And He was also saying to the crowds, “(Z)When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. 55 And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a (AA)hot day,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! (AB)You know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but [l]why do you not examine this present time?
57 “And (AC)why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? 58 For (AD)while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to [m]settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last [n](AE)lepton.”
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