{25:21} Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [fellow] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. {25:22} So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that [pertain] to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. {25:23} And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, {25:24} And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let this] iniquity [be:] and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. {25:25} Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal: for as his name [is,] so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. {25:26} Now therefore, my lord, [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. {25:27} And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. {25:28} I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days. {25:29} Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, [as out] of the middle of a sling. {25:30} And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; {25:31} That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. {25:32} And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: {25:33} And blessed [be] thy advice, and blessed [be] thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. {25:34} For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. {25:35} So David received of her hand [that] which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. {25:36} And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. {25:37} But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone. {25:38} And it came to pass about ten days [after,] that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. {25:39} And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. {25:40} And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife. {25:41} And she arose, and bowed herself on [her] face to the earth, and said, Behold, [let] thine handmaid [be] a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. {25:42} And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. {25:43} David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. {25:44} But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which [was] of Gallim. {26:1} And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, [which is] before Jeshimon? {26:2} Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand Page 175 1 Samuel chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. {26:3} And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which [is] before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. {26:4} David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed. {26:5} And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him. {26:6} Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. {26:7} So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him. {26:8} Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not [smite] him the second time. {26:9} And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless? {26:10} David said furthermore, [As] the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. {26:11} The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that [is] at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. {26:12} So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw [it,] nor knew [it,] neither awaked: for they [were] all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them. {26:13} Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space [being] between them: {26:14} And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who [art] thou [that] criest to the king? {26:15} And David said to Abner, [Art] not thou a [valiant] man? and who [is] like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. {26:16} This thing [is] not good that thou hast done. [As] the LORD liveth, ye [are] worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD’S anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that [was] at his bolster. {26:17} And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, [Is] this thy voice, my son David? And David said, [It is] my voice, my lord, O king. {26:18} And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil [is] in mine hand? {26:19} Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if [they be] the children of men, cursed [be] they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods. {26:20} Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. {26:21} Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. {26:22} And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. {26:23} The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into [my] hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed. {26:24} And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. {26:25} Then Saul said to David, Blessed [be] thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place. {27:1} And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: [there is] nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. {27:2} And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that [were] with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. {27:3} And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, [even] David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. {27:4} And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. {27:5} And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? {27:6} Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. {27:7} And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. {27:8} And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those [nations were] of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. {27:9} And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. {27:10} And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. {27:11} And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring [tidings] to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so [will be] his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. {27:12} And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever. {28:1} And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. {28:2} And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. {28:3} Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. {28:4} And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. {28:5} And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he 1 Samuel Page 176 was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. {28:6} And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams nor by Urim, nor by prophets. {28:7} Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, [there is] a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. {28:8} And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me [him] up, whom I shall name unto thee. {28:9} And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? {28:10} And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, [As] the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. {28:11} Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. {28:12} And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou [art] Saul. {28:13} And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. {28:14} And he said unto her, What form [is] he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he [is] covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it [was] Samuel, and he stooped with [his] face to the ground, and bowed himself. {28:15} And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. {28:16} Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? {28:17} And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, [even] to David: {28:18} Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. {28:19} Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow [shalt] thou and thy sons [be] with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. {28:20} Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. {28:21} And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me. {28:22} Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way. {28:23} But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. {28:24} And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded [it,] and did bake unleavened bread thereof: {28:25} And she brought [it] before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night. {29:1} Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which [is] in Jezreel. {29:2} And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish. {29:3} Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here?] And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, [Is] not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day? {29:4} And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? [should it] not [be] with the heads of these men? {29:5} [Is] not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? {29:6} Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, [as] the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host [is] good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not. {29:7} Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. {29:8} And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? {29:9} And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou [art] good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. {29:10} Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. {29:11} So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. {30:1} And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; {30:2} And had taken the women captives, that [were] therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried [them] away, and went on their way. {30:3} So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. {30:4} Then David and the people that [were] with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. {30:5} And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. {30:6} And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. {30:7} And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. {30:8} And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them,] and Page 177 1 Samuel without fail recover [all. ]{30:9} So David went, he and the six hundred men that [were] with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. {30:10} But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. {30:11} And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; {30:12} And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk [any] water, three days and three nights. {30:13} And David said unto him, To whom [belongest] thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I [am] a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. {30:14} We made an invasion [upon] the south of the Cherethites, and upon [the coast] which [belongeth] to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. {30:15} And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. {30:16} And when he had brought him down, behold, [they were] spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. {30:17} And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. {30:18} And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. {30:19} And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any [thing] that they had taken to them: David recovered all. {30:20} And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drave before those [other] cattle, and said, This [is] David’s spoil. {30:21} And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that [were] with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. {30:22} Then answered all the wicked men and [men] of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [ought] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away, and depart. {30:23} Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. {30:24} For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part [be] that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. {30:25} And it was [so] from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. {30:26} And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, [even] to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; {30:27} To [them] which [were] in Bethel, and to [them] which [were] in south Ramoth, and to [them] which [were] in Jattir, {30:28} And to [them] which [were] in Aroer, and to [them] which [were] in Siphmoth, and to [them] which [were] in Eshtemoa, {30:29} And to [them] which [were] in Rachal, and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Kenites, {30:30} And to [them] which [were] in Hormah, and to [them] which [were] in Chor-ashan, and to [them] which [were] in Athach, {30:31} And to [them] which [were] in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. {31:1} Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. {31:2} And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, Saul’s sons. {31:3} And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. {31:4} Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. {31:5} And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. {31:6} So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. {31:7} And when the men of Israel that [were] on the other side of the valley, and [they] that [were] on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. {31:8} And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. {31:9} And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish [it in] the house of their idols, and among the people. {31:10} And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. {31:11} And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; {31:12} All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. {31:13} And they took their bones, and buried [them] under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 06:35:41 +0000
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