David Spares Saul’s Life

1 ^yWhen Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took ^zthree thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in ^ato relieve himself.¹ Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts ^bof the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, ^c“Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 And afterward ^dDavid’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, ^e“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is ^fthe Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words ^gand did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. ^hAnd some told me to kill you, but I spared you.² I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, ^ffor he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that ⁱthere is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though ^jyou hunt my life to take it. 12 ^kMay the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? ^lAfter a dead dog! ^mAfter a flea! 15 ^kMay the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and ⁿplead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ^o“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, ^pfor you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, ^qI know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 ^rSwear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and ^sthat you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up ^tto the stronghold.

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

1 It is actually reported that there is ^wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, ^xfor a man has his father’s wife. 2 And ^yyou are arrogant! Ought you ^znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3 For though ^aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled ^bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are ^cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so ^dthat his spirit may be saved ^ein the day of the Lord.¹

6 ^fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ^ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^hnot with the old leaven, ⁱthe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter ^jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 ^knot at all meaning ^lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, ^msince then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ⁿwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging ^ooutsiders? ^pIs it not those inside the church² whom you are to judge? 13 God judges³ those outside. ^q“Purge the evil person from among you.”

1 And he said to me, ^c“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^tEat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^uThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^vas sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, ^w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^xSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 ^yBut the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^zhave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 ^aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like ^bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^dall my words that I shall speak to you receive ^ein your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, ^fto your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^g‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^hwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”

12 ⁱThen the Spirit¹ lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice² of ^ja great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of ^kthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^la great earthquake. 14 ^mThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ⁿhand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 ^oAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^oby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.³ And ^pI sat there ^qoverwhelmed among them ^rseven days.

A Watchman for Israel

16 ^sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ^t“Son of man, ^uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^vgive them warning from me. 18 ^wIf I say to the wicked, ^x‘You shall surely die,’ ^vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^yshall die for⁴ his iniquity, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 19 ^aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^bbut you ^cwill have delivered your soul. 20 ^dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

22 ^fAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^gthe valley,⁵ and ^hthere I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ⁱthe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^jby the Chebar canal, ⁱand I fell on my face. 24 ^kBut the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25 And you, O son of man, behold, ^lcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that ^myou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ⁿfor they are a rebellious house. 27 ^oBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^p‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^qHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to ^vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.