Today's Reading

¹David was told, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors."

²Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go and strike these Philistines?" The Lord said to David, "Go strike the Philistines, and save Keilah."

³David's men said to him, "Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?"

⁴Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. The Lord answered him, and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."

⁵David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their livestock, and killed them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶It happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷It was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars."

⁸Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

⁹David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."

¹⁰Then David said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, the God of Israel, I beg you, tell your servant." The Lord said, "He will come down."

¹²Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" The Lord said, "They will deliver you up."

¹³Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. It was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

¹⁵David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.

¹⁶Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the woods, and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷He said to him, "Do not be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows."

¹⁸They both made a covenant before the Lord: and David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doesn't David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?

²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand."

²¹Saul said, "You are blessed by the Lord; for you have had compassion on me.

²²Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

²⁴They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.

²⁵Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.

²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!"

²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.

²⁹David went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.

¹It happened, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi."

²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.

³He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.

⁴The men of David said to him, "Behold, the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.

⁵It happened afterward, that David's heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.

⁶He said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed."

⁷So David checked his men with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

⁸David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and showed respect.

⁹David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to men's words, saying, 'Behold, David seeks your hurt?'

¹⁰Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed.

¹¹Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.

¹²May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me of you; but my hand shall not be on you.

¹³As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness;' but my hand shall not be on you.

¹⁴Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?

¹⁵May the Lord therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand."

¹⁶It came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹⁷He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.

¹⁸You have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, because when the Lord had delivered me up into your hand, you did not kill me.

¹⁹For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the Lord reward you good for that which you have done to me this day.

²⁰Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.

²¹Swear now therefore to me by the Lord, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house."

²²David swore to Saul. Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

¹Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

²There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful face: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

⁴David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵David 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.

⁶You shall tell him, 'Long life to you! Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

⁷Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds have now been with us, and we did not hurt them, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.'"

⁹When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

¹⁰Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days.

¹¹Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I do not know where they come from?"

¹²So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words.

¹³David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword!" Every man put on his sword. David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David; and two hundred stayed by the baggage.

¹⁴But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he railed at them.

¹⁵But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

¹⁷Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him."

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

¹⁹She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Behold, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband, Nabal.

²⁰It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

²¹Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good.

²²God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

²³When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.

²⁴She fell at his feet, and said, "On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.

²⁵Please do not let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

²⁶Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you all your days.

²⁹Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling.

³⁰It shall come to pass, when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel,

³¹that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid."

³²David said to Abigail, "Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!

³³Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

³⁴For indeed, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

³⁵So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

³⁶Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

³⁷It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

³⁸It happened about ten days after, that the Lord struck Nabal, so that he died.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed is the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. The Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.

⁴⁰When the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife."

⁴¹She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, "Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."

⁴²Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

⁴³David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives.

⁴⁴Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

¹So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.

²The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.

³And they kept coming up to him and saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and they struck him with their hands.

⁴Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him."

⁵Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, "Behold, the man!"

⁶When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves, and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him."

⁷The Jewish leaders answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."

⁸When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.

⁹He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him, "Are not you speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?"

¹¹Jesus answered, "You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin."

¹²At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, saying, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!"

¹³When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called "The Pavement," but in Hebrew, "Gabbatha."

¹⁴Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jewish leaders, "Behold, your King!"

¹⁵They shouted, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"

¹⁶So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus.

¹⁷He went out, carrying the cross himself, to the place called "The Place of a Skull," which is called in Hebrew, "Golgotha,"

¹⁸where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

²⁰Therefore many Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

²¹The chief priests of the Jewish people therefore said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'he said, I am King of the Jews.'"

²²Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

²⁴Then they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, "They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

²⁵But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!"

²⁷Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."

²⁹Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

³¹Therefore the Jewish leaders, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

³²Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him;

³³but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

³⁴However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

³⁵He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.

³⁶For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "A bone of him will not be broken."

³⁷Again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they pierced."

³⁸After these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jewish leaders, asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission. He came therefore and took away his body.

³⁹Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, according to Jewish burial practice.

⁴¹Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been placed.

⁴²Then because of the Jewish Preparation Day (for the tomb was nearby) they put Jesus there.

¹ His foundation is in the holy mountains.

²The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.

⁴I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: "This one was born there."

⁵Yes, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one was born in her;" the Most High himself will establish her.

⁶The Lord will count, when he writes up the peoples, "This one was born there." Selah.

⁷Those who sing as well as those who dance say, "All my springs are in you."

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

⁵Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

⁷for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

¹⁰lest one who hears it put you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.

¹⁵By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

²⁰As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:

²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring, and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

²⁸Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.