Month: May 2018

The Philistines Reject David

29 The entire Philistine army now mobilized at Aphek, and the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel. ² As the Philistine rulers were leading out their troops in groups of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched at the rear with King Achish. ³ But the Philistine commanders demanded, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish told them, “This is David, the servant of King Saul of Israel. He’s been with me for years, and I’ve never found a single fault in him from the day he arrived until today.”

⁴ But the Philistine commanders were angry. “Send him back to the town you’ve given him!” they demanded. “He can’t go into the battle with us. What if he turns against us in battle and becomes our adversary? Is there any better way for him to reconcile himself with his master than by handing our heads over to him? ⁵ Isn’t this the same David about whom the women of Israel sing in their dances,

⁶ So Achish finally summoned David and said to him, “I swear by the Lord that you have been a trustworthy ally. I think you should go with me into battle, for I’ve never found a single flaw in you from the day you arrived until today. But the other Philistine rulers won’t hear of it. ⁷ Please don’t upset them, but go back quietly.”

⁸ “What have I done to deserve this treatment?” David demanded. “What have you ever found in your servant, that I can’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹ But Achish insisted, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re as perfect as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders are afraid to have you with them in the battle. ¹⁰ Now get up early in the morning, and leave with your men as soon as it gets light.”

¹¹ So David and his men headed back into the land of the Philistines, while the Philistine army went on to Jezreel.

David Destroys the Amalekites

30 Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. ² They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone.

³ When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, ⁴ they wept until they could weep no more. ⁵ David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured. ⁶ David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

⁷ Then he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the ephod!” So Abiathar brought it. ⁸ Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?”

And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”

⁹ So David and his 600 men set out, and they came to the brook Besor. ¹⁰ But 200 of the men were too exhausted to cross the brook, so David continued the pursuit with 400 men.

¹¹ Along the way they found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink. ¹² They also gave him part of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins, for he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights. Before long his strength returned.

¹³ “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” David asked him.

“I am an Egyptian—the slave of an Amalekite,” he replied. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I was sick. ¹⁴ We were on our way back from raiding the Kerethites in the Negev, the territory of Judah, and the land of Caleb, and we had just burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵ “Will you lead me to this band of raiders?” David asked.

The young man replied, “If you take an oath in God’s name that you will not kill me or give me back to my master, then I will guide you to them.”

¹⁶ So he led David to them, and they found the Amalekites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except 400 young men who fled on camels. ¹⁸ David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. ²⁰ He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to David!” they said.

²¹ Then David returned to the brook Besor and met up with the 200 men who had been left behind because they were too exhausted to go with him. They went out to meet David and his men, and David greeted them joyfully. ²² But some evil troublemakers among David’s men said, “They didn’t go with us, so they can’t have any of the plunder we recovered. Give them their wives and children, and tell them to be gone.”

²³ But David said, “No, my brothers! Don’t be selfish with what the Lord has given us. He has kept us safe and helped us defeat the band of raiders that attacked us. ²⁴ Who will listen when you talk like this? We share and share alike—those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment.” ²⁵ From then on David made this a decree and regulation for Israel, and it is still followed today.

²⁶ When he arrived at Ziklag, David sent part of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends. “Here is a present for you, taken from the Lord’s enemies,” he said.

²⁷ The gifts were sent to the people of the following towns David had visited: Bethel, Ramoth-negev, Jattir, ²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, ²⁹ Racal,^[a] the towns of the Jerahmeelites, the towns of the Kenites, ³⁰ Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, ³¹ Hebron, and all the other places David and his men had visited.

The Death of Saul

31 Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. ³ The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.

⁴ Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me.”

But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.

⁷ When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia. ¹⁰ They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.

¹¹ But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

⁵⁵ It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. ⁵⁶ They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” ⁵⁷ Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. ² A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate^[a] with him. ³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar^[b] of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, ⁵ “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.^[c] It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹ When all the people^[d] heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, ¹¹ for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them^[e] and believed in Jesus.

Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

¹² The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors ¹³ took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

¹⁷ Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others^[j] about it. ¹⁸ That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone^[k] has gone after him!”

Psalm 118

David Spares Saul Again

26 Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”

² So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph. ³ Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, ⁴ he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival.

⁵ David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. ⁶ “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother.

“I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. ⁷ So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.

⁸ “God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”

⁹ “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? ¹⁰ Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. ¹¹ The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”

¹² So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the Lord had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.

¹³ David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. ¹⁴ Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!”

“Who is it?” Abner demanded.

¹⁵ “Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? ¹⁶ This isn’t good at all! I swear by the Lord that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the Lord’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?”

And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king. ¹⁸ Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? ¹⁹ But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ ²⁰ Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”

²¹ Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”

²² “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. ²³ The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. ²⁴ Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”

²⁵ And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.

David among the Philistines

27 But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.”

² So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. ³ David and his men and their families settled there with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives along with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s widow from Carmel. ⁴ Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped hunting for him.

⁵ One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”

⁶ So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day), ⁷ and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.

⁸ David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times. ⁹ David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish.

¹⁰ “Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask.

And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.”

¹¹ No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines. ¹² Achish believed David and thought to himself, “By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!”

Saul Consults a Medium

28 About that time the Philistines mustered their armies for another war with Israel. King Achish told David, “You and your men will be expected to join me in battle.”

² “Very well!” David agreed. “Now you will see for yourself what we can do.”

Then Achish told David, “I will make you my personal bodyguard for life.”

³ Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him. He was buried in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead.

⁴ The Philistines set up their camp at Shunem, and Saul gathered all the army of Israel and camped at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. ⁶ He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots^[a] or by the prophets. ⁷ Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.”

His advisers replied, “There is a medium at Endor.”

⁸ So Saul disguised himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. Then he went to the woman’s home at night, accompanied by two of his men.

“I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me?”

⁹ “Are you trying to get me killed?” the woman demanded. “You know that Saul has outlawed all the mediums and all who consult the spirits of the dead. Why are you setting a trap for me?”

¹⁰ But Saul took an oath in the name of the Lord and promised, “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you for doing this.”

¹¹ Finally, the woman said, “Well, whose spirit do you want me to call up?”

“Call up Samuel,” Saul replied.

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, “You’ve deceived me! You are Saul!”

¹³ “Don’t be afraid!” the king told her. “What do you see?”

“I see a god^[b] coming up out of the earth,” she said.

¹⁴ “What does he look like?” Saul asked.

“He is an old man wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul realized it was Samuel, and he fell to the ground before him.

¹⁵ “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul.

“Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.”

¹⁶ But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. ¹⁸ The Lord has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. ¹⁹ What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.”

²⁰ Saul fell full length on the ground, paralyzed with fright because of Samuel’s words. He was also faint with hunger, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.

²¹ When the woman saw how distraught he was, she said, “Sir, I obeyed your command at the risk of my life. ²² Now do what I say, and let me give you a little something to eat so you can regain your strength for the trip back.”

²³ But Saul refused to eat anything. Then his advisers joined the woman in urging him to eat, so he finally yielded and got up from the ground and sat on the couch.

²⁴ The woman had been fattening a calf, so she hurried out and killed it. She took some flour, kneaded it into dough and baked unleavened bread. ²⁵ She brought the meal to Saul and his advisers, and they ate it. Then they went out into the night.

The Raising of Lazarus

11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. ² This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.^[a] Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. ³ So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

⁴ But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” ⁵ So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, ⁶ he stayed where he was for the next two days. ⁷ Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

⁸ But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people^[b] in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

⁹ Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. ¹⁰ But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” ¹¹ Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

¹² The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” ¹³ They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

¹⁴ So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

¹⁶ Thomas, nicknamed the Twin,^[c] said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was only a few miles^[d] down the road from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. ²⁰ When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[e] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. ²⁶ Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” ²⁸ Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” ²⁹ So Mary immediately went to him.

³⁰ Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. ³¹ When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. ³² When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,^[f] and he was deeply troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Then Jesus wept. ³⁶ The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” ³⁷ But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

³⁸ Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ³⁹ “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

⁴⁰ Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” ⁴¹ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” ⁴³ Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. ⁴⁶ But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council^[g] together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. ⁴⁸ If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple^[h] and our nation.”

⁴⁹ Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,^[i] said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! ⁵⁰ You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹ He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. ⁵² And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

⁵³ So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. ⁵⁴ As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

Psalm 117

David Spares Saul

24 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines,^(A) he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.”^{(B) 2} So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men^(C) and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself.^[a](D) David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave,^{(E) 4} so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David’s conscience bothered^[b](F) him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.^{[c] 6} He said to his men, “I swear before the Lord: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed.^(G) I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”^{(H) 7} With these words David persuaded^[d] his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.

Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. ⁸ After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.^{(I) 9} David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? ¹⁰ You can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave.^(J) Someone advised me to kill you,^(K) but I^[e][f] took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the Lord’s anointed. ¹¹ Look, my father!^(L) Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize^[g] that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.^(M)

¹² “May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.^{(N) 13} As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’^(O) My hand will never be against you. ¹⁴ Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea?^{(P) 15} May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver^[h] me from you.”^(Q)

¹⁶ When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?”^(R) Then Saul wept aloud ¹⁷ and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you.^{(S) 18} You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me.^{(T) 19} When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?^[i](U) May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

²⁰ “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established^[j] in your hand.^{(V) 21} Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”^{(W) 22} So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.^(X)

David, Nabal, and Abigail

25 Samuel died,^(Y) and all Israel assembled to mourn for him,^(Z) and they buried him by his home in Ramah.^(AA) David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.^[k](AB)

² A man in Maon^(AC) had a business in Carmel;^(AD) he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite,^(AE) was harsh and evil in his dealings.

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, ⁵ so David sent ten young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him^[l] in my name. ⁶ Then say this: ‘Long life to you,^[m] and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.^{(AF) 7} I hear that you are shearing.^[n] When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.^{(AG) 8} Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast^[o] day.^(AH) Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf,^[p] and they waited.^{[q] 10} Nabal asked them, “Who is David?^(AI) Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. ¹¹ Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”

¹² David’s young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words. ¹³ He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^(AJ)

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,^(AK) but he screamed at them. ¹⁵ The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed^(AL) and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them. ¹⁶ They were a wall around us, both day and night,^(AM) the entire time we were with them herding the sheep. ¹⁷ Now consider carefully^[r] what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”

¹⁸ Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel^[s] of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{(AN) 19} Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.”^(AO) But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them. ²¹ David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good. ²² May God punish me^[t] and do so severely^(AP) if I let any of his males^[u] survive until morning.”^(AQ)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.^{(AR) 24} She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant. ²⁵ My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name:^[v] His name means ‘stupid,’ and stupidity is all he knows.^[w] I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent. ²⁶ Now my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live— it is the Lord who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself^(AS) by your own hand—may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.^{(AT) 27} Let this gift^(AU) your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offense,^(AV) for the Lord is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord^(AW) because he fights the Lord’s battles.^(AX) Throughout your life, may evil^[x] not be found in you.^(AY)

²⁹ “Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord’s life is tucked safely in the place^[y] where the Lord your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ lives like stones from a sling.^{(AZ) 30} When the Lord does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,^{(BA) 31} there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the Lord does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”^(BB)

³² Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,^(BC) who sent you to meet me today! ³³ May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.^{(BD) 34} Otherwise, as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males^[z] left by morning light.” ³⁵ Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace.^(BE) See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”^(BF)

³⁶ Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king.^(BG) Nabal’s heart was cheerful,^[aa] and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything^[ab] to him^(BH) until morning light.

³⁷ In the morning when Nabal sobered up,^[ac] his wife told him about these events. His heart died^[ad] and he became a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal dead.^(BI)

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who championed my cause against Nabal’s insults^(BJ) and restrained his servant from doing evil.^(BK) The Lord brought Nabal’s evil deeds back on his own head.”^(BL)

Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to bring you to him as a wife.”

⁴¹ She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground,^(BM) and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”^{(BN) 42} Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers.^(BO) And so she became his wife.

⁴³ David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel,^(BP) and the two of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti^(BQ) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(BR)

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

²² Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.^{(A) 24} The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?^[a] If you are the Messiah,^(B) tell us plainly.”^[b](C)

²⁵ “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works^(D) that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. ²⁶ But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.^{[c](E) 27} My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life,^(F) and they will never perish.^(G) No one will snatch^(H) them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father,^(I) who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”^(J)

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.^(K)

³² Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works^(L) from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

³³ “We aren’t stoning^(M) you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law,^[d] I said, you are gods?^{[e](N) 35} If he called those whom the word^(O) of God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture^(P) cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?^{(Q) 37} If I am not doing my Father’s works,^(R) don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand^[f] that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”^{(S) 39} Then they were trying again to seize him,^(T) but he eluded their grasp.^(U)

Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus

⁴⁰ So he departed again across the Jordan^(V) to the place where John^(W) had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹ Many came to him^(X) and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many believed in him there.

Psalm 116

Thanks to God for Deliverance

Saul’s Increasing Paranoia

22 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam.^(A) When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there. ² In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.^(B)

³ From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.

⁵ Then the prophet Gad^(C) said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree^(D) at the high place. His spear was in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. ⁷ Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin: Is Jesse’s son going to give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?^{(E) 8} That’s why all of you have conspired against me! Nobody tells me^[a] when my own son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son.^(F) None of you cares about me^(G) or tells me^[b] that my son has stirred up my own servant to wait in ambush for me, as is the case today.”

⁹ Then Doeg the Edomite,^(H) who was in charge of Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw Jesse’s son come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.^{(I) 10} Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for him^(J) and gave him provisions.^(K) He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”^(L)

Slaughter of the Priests

¹¹ The king sent messengers to summon the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. ¹² Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub!”

“I’m at your service,^(M) my lord,” he said.

¹³ Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son conspire against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him, so he could rise up against me and wait in ambush, as is the case today.”^(N)

¹⁴ Ahimelech replied to the king: “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David?^(O) He is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and honored in your house. ¹⁵ Was today the first time I inquired of God for him?^(P) Of course not! Please don’t let the king make an accusation against your servant or any of my father’s family, for your servant didn’t have any idea^[c] about all this.”

¹⁶ But the king said, “You will die, Ahimelech—you and your father’s whole family!”

¹⁷ Then the king ordered the guards standing by him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord^(Q) because they sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they didn’t tell me.”^[d] But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to execute the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ So the king said to Doeg, “Go and execute the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite went and executed the priests himself. On that day, he killed eighty-five men^(R) who wore linen ephods.^{(S) 19} He also struck down Nob, the city of the priests, with the sword—both men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.^(T)

²⁰ However, one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar,^(U) and he fled to David.^{(V) 21} Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite^(W) was there that day and that he was sure to report to Saul. I myself am responsible for^[e] the lives of everyone in your father’s family. ²³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for the one who wants to take my life wants to take your life.^(X) You will be safe with me.”

Deliverance at Keilah

23 It was reported to David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah^(Y) and raiding the threshing floors.”

² So David inquired of the Lord:^(Z) “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?”

The Lord answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”

³ But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”

⁴ Once again, David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.”^{(AA) 5} Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶ Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him.

⁷ When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.” ⁸ Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar,^(AB) “Bring the ephod.”^(AC)

¹⁰ Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, your servant has reliable information that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell your servant.”

The Lord answered, “He will come down.”

¹² Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?”

“They will,”^(AD) the Lord responded.

¹³ So David and his men, numbering about six hundred,^(AE) left Keilah at once and moved from place to place.^(AF) When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition. ¹⁴ David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph.^(AG) Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.^(AH)

A Renewed Covenant

¹⁵ David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. ¹⁶ Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith^[f] in God,^{(AI) 17} saying, “Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel,^(AJ) and I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.”^{(AK) 18} Then the two of them made a covenant in the Lord’s presence.^(AL) Afterward, David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

David’s Narrow Escape

¹⁹ Some Ziphites^(AM) came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is^[g] hiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.”^(AN)

²¹ “May you be blessed by the Lord,” replied Saul, “for you have shown concern for me.^{(AO) 22} Go and check again. Investigate^[h] where he goes^[i] and who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning. ²³ Investigate^[j] all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans^[k] of Judah.” ²⁴ So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon^(AP) in the Arabah south of Jeshimon, ²⁵ and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

²⁶ Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.^{(AQ) 27} Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!” ²⁸ So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation. ²⁹ From there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.^(AR)

The Good Shepherd

10 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.^{(A) 2} The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd^(B) of the sheep.^{(C) 3} The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand^(D) what he was telling them.

⁷ Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am^(E) the gate for the sheep.^{(F) 8} All who came before me^[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ A thief comes only to steal^(G) and kill and destroy.^(H) I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd.^(I) The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.^{(J) 12} The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them^[b] and runs away when he sees a wolf^(K) coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³ This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.^(L) I lay down my life^(M) for the sheep. ¹⁶ But I have other sheep^(N) that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.^{(O) 17} This is why the Father loves me,^(P) because I lay down my life^(Q) so that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”^(R)

¹⁹ Again the Jews were divided^(S) because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He has a demon^(T) and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” ²¹ Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”^(U)

Psalm 115

Glory to God Alone

Jonathan Protects David

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done?^(A) What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

² Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me.^[a] So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

³ But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”^(B)

⁴ Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵ So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon,^(C) and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king.^(D) Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights.^{[b](E) 6} If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown Bethlehem^(F) for an annual sacrifice^(G) there involving the whole clan.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions. ⁸ Deal kindly with^[c] your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the Lord.^(H) If I have done anything wrong,^(I) then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

⁹ “No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

¹⁰ So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹ He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside. ¹² “By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?^{[d] 13} If my father intends to bring evil on you, may God punish Jonathan and do so severely^(J) if I do not tell you^[e] and send you away so you may leave safely. May the Lord be with you,^(K) just as he was with my father. ¹⁴ If I continue to live, show me kindness^[f] from the Lord, but if I die, ¹⁵ don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”^{(L) 16} Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,^(M) saying, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies accountable.”^{[g](N) 17} Jonathan once again swore to David^[h] in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.^(O)

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon;^(P) you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target. ²¹ Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to the servant, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’ then come, because as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem. ²² But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you!’^(Q) then go, for the Lord is sending you away. ²³ As for the matter you and I have spoken about,^(R) the Lord will be a witness^[i] between you and me forever.”^{(S) 24} So David hid in the countryside.

At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal. ²⁵ He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him^[j] and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.^{(T) 26} Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean—yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”^(U)

²⁷ However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸ Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.^{(V) 29} He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

³⁰ Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?^{[k] 31} Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me—he must die!”^(W)

³² Jonathan answered his father back: “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”^(X)

³³ Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him,^(Y) so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.^{(Z) 34} He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.

³⁵ In the morning Jonathan went out to the countryside for the appointed meeting with David. A young servant was with him. ³⁶ He said to the servant, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.”^(AA) As the servant ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?”^{(AB) 38} Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s servant picked up the arrow and returned to his master. ³⁹ He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹ When the servant had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell facedown to the ground, and payed homage three times.^(AC) Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.^(AD)

⁴² Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the Lord when we said: The Lord will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.”^(AE) Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

David Flees to Nob

21 David went to the priest Ahimelech^(AF) at Nob.^(AG) Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”

² David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place. ³ Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”

⁴ The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread,^(AH) but the young men may eat it^[l] only if they have kept themselves from women.”^(AI)

⁵ David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle.^(AJ) The young men’s bodies^[m] are consecrated^(AK) even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.” ⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,^(AL) for there was no bread there except the Bread of the Presence^(AM) that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.

⁷ One of Saul’s servants, detained before the Lord, was there that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite,^(AN) chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸ David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t even bring my sword or my weapons since the king’s mission was urgent.”

⁹ The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine,^(AO) whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn’t another one here.”

“There’s none like it!” David said. “Give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

¹⁰ David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath.^{(AP) 11} But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances:

¹² David took this to heart^[n] and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath, ¹³ so he pretended to be insane in their presence.^(AR) He acted like a madman around them,^[o] scribbling^[p] on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

¹⁴ “Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? ¹⁵ Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?”^(AS)

The Sixth Sign: Healing a Man Born Blind

9 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him: “Rabbi,^(A) who sinned, this man^(B) or his parents,^(C) that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works^(D) might be displayed in him. ⁴ We^[a] must do the works^(E) of him who sent me^[b] while it is day.^(F) Night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”^(G)

⁶ After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud^(H) from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam”^(I) (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.^(J)

⁸ His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” ⁹ Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.”

He kept saying, “I’m the one.”

¹⁰ So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam^(K) and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”^(L)

¹² “Where is he?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

The Healed Man’s Testimony

¹³ They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.^{(M) 14} The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.^{(N) 15} Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.

“He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God,^(O) because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man^(P) perform such signs?” And there was a division^(Q) among them.

¹⁷ Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?”

“He’s a prophet,”^(R) he said.

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

¹⁹ They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

²⁰ “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. ²¹ “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah,^(S) he would be banned from the synagogue. ²³ This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory^(T) to God.^(U) We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

²⁸ They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s^(V) disciples. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.”^(W)

³⁰ “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners,^(X) but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will,^(Y) he listens to him.^{(Z) 32} Throughout history^[c] no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.^{(AA) 33} If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”^(AB)

³⁴ “You were born entirely in sin,”^(AC) they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.^(AD)

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^[d](AE)

³⁶ “Who is he, Sir,^(AF) that I may believe in him?” he asked.

³⁷ Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world^(AG) for judgment,^(AH) in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”^(AI)

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

⁴¹ “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin.^(AJ) But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Psalm 113

Praise to the Merciful God

Psalm 114

God’s Deliverance of Israel