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David Spares Saul’s Life
24 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the [a]Wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 On the way he came to the [b]sheepfolds where there was a cave; and Saul went in to [c]relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave’s innermost recesses. 4 David’s men said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will hand over your enemy to you, and you shall do to him as seems good to you.’” Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the hem (edge) of Saul’s robe. 5 Afterward, David’s [d]conscience bothered him because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, since he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 So David strongly rebuked his men with these words and did not let them rise up against Saul. Saul got up, left the cave and went on his way.
8 Then David also got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and lay himself face down. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘David seeks to harm you?’ 10 Behold, your eyes have seen today how the Lord had given you into my hand in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not reach out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 Look, my father! Indeed, see the hem of your robe in my hand! Since I cut off the hem of your robe and did not kill you, know and understand [without question] that there is no evil or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between me and you; and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue [with three thousand men]? A dead dog, a single flea? 15 May the Lord be the judge and render judgment between me and you; and may He see and plead my cause and vindicate me by saving me from your hand.”(A)
16 When David had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul raised his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous and upright [in God’s eyes] than I; for you have done good to me, but I have done evil to you. 18 You have declared today the good that you have done to me, for when the Lord put me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away [e]unharmed? So may the Lord reward you with good in return for what you have done for me this day. 20 Now, behold, I know that you will certainly be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household (extended family).” 22 David gave Saul his oath; and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the mountain stronghold.
Samuel’s Death
25 Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
Nabal and Abigail
2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business and possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a [f]Calebite). 4 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 and go to Nabal, and [g]greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say, ‘[h]Have a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything 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 sight [and be well-treated], for we have come on a [i]good (festive) day. [j]Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? [k]There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master. 11 So should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12 So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal]. 13 David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed back with the provisions and supplies.
14 But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them [in contempt]. 15 But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields. 16 They were a wall [of protection] to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep. 17 Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is [already] planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a [l]worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak [reasonably] to him.”
Abigail Intercedes
18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared [for roasting], five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good. 22 May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one [m]male of any who belong to him.”
23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and [n]kneeled face downward before David and bowed down to the ground [in respect]. 24 [o]Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak [p]to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 Please do not let my lord [q]pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his [r]name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
26 So now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has prevented you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord, be as [self-destructive as] Nabal. 27 Now this gift, which your maidservant has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who [s]accompany and follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a secure and enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound in the [precious] bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies—those He will hurl out as from the center of a sling. 30 And it will happen when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken (promised) concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 that this [incident] will not cause grief or [bring] a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember [with favor] your maidservant.”
32 David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day. 33 And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, who has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, most certainly by the morning light there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 So David [t]accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have [u]granted your request.”
36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s [v]mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 But in the morning, when [w]Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his [x]heart died within him and he became [paralyzed and helpless] like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
David Marries Abigail
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach [suffered] at the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from [retaliating with] evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you [to him] to be his wife.” 41 And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who [y]attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his [younger] daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Jesus Asserts His Deity
22 At that time the [a]Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. 23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple [area] in [b]Solomon’s portico. 24 So the Jews surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are [really] the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), tell us so plainly and openly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I have told you so, yet you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name testify concerning Me [they are My credentials and the evidence declaring who I am]. 26 But you do not believe Me [so you do not trust and follow Me] because you are not My sheep. 27 The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. 29 [c]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].”
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works [and many acts of mercy] from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “We are not going to stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods [human judges representing God, not divine beings]’?(A) 35 If He [d]called them gods, men to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be undone or annulled or broken), 36 [if that is true] then do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father [that is, the miracles that only God could perform], then do not believe Me. 38 But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works [that I do—admit that they are the works of God], so that you may know and keep on knowing [clearly—without any doubt] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [that is, I am One with Him].” 39 So they tried again to seize Him, but He eluded their grasp.
40 He went back again across the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41 Many came to Him, and they were saying, “John did not perform a single sign (attesting miracle), but everything John said about this Man was true and accurate.” 42 And many there believed and confidently trusted in Him [accepting Him as Savior, and following His teaching].
Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
116 I love the Lord, because He hears [and continues to hear]
My voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs).
2
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
3
The cords and sorrows of death encompassed me,
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, please save my life!”
5
Gracious is the Lord, and [consistently] righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
6
[a]The Lord protects the simple (childlike);
I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me.
7
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.(A)
8
For You have rescued my life from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling and falling.
9
I will walk [in submissive wonder] before the Lord
In the land of the living.
10
I believed [and clung to my God] when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”(B)
11
I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
12
What will I give to the Lord [in return]
For all His benefits toward me?
[How can I repay Him for His precious blessings?]
13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
And call on the name of the Lord.
14
I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people.
15
[b]Precious [and of great consequence] in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones [so He watches over them].
16
O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;
You have unfastened my chains.
17
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call on the name of the Lord.
18
I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people,
19
In the courts of the Lord’s house (temple)—
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
20
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.
21
Foolishness is joy to him who is without heart and lacks [intelligent, common] sense,
But a man of understanding walks uprightly [making his course straight].(A)
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