1 Samuel 25; 1 Corinthians 6; Ezekiel 4; Psalms 40–41

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1 Samuel 25

The Death of Samuel

uNow Samuel died. And all Israel assembled vand mourned for him, and they buried him win his house at xRamah.

David and Abigail

Then David rose and went down to ythe wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in zMaon whose business was in aCarmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. bHe was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; che was a Calebite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal bwas shearing his sheep. So David 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. And thus you shall greet him: dPeace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, eand they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come fon a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, gWho is David? Who is the son of Jesse? hThere are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take imy bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to jmen who come from I do not know where? 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, Every man strap on his sword! And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And kabout four hundred men went up after David, kwhile two hundred lremained with the baggage.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, nand we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16 They were oa wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, pfor harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such qa worthless man that one cannot speak to him.

18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs1 of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, rso that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has sreturned me evil for good. 22 tGod do so to the enemies of David2 and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried uand got down from the donkey vand fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, wOn me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard qthis worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal3 is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, xas the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ythe Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from zsaving with your own hand, now then alet your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this bpresent that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord ca sure house, because my lord dis fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies ehe shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince4 over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord zworking salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.

32 And David said to Abigail, fBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, ywho have kept me this day from bloodguilt zand from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely gas the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ywho has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male. 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, hGo up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.

36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, ihe was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart jwas merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing kat all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later lthe Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, fBlessed be the Lord who has mavenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, nand has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. oThe Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head. Then David sent and pspoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife. 41 And she rose qand bowed with her face to the ground and said, Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David also took Ahinoam of rJezreel, sand both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.


1 Corinthians 6

Lawsuits Against Believers

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous rinstead of the saints? Or do you not know that sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraudeven wyour own brothers!1

Or do you not know that the unrighteous2 will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,3 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And ysuch were some of you. But zyou were washed, ayou were sanctified, byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

12 cAll things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 dFood is meant for the stomach and the stomach for foodand God will destroy both one eand the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ffor the Lord, and gthe Lord for the body. 14 And hGod raised the Lord and iwill also raise us up jby his power. 15 Do you not know that kyour bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined4 to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, lThe two will become one flesh. 17 But he who is joined to the Lord mbecomes one spirit with him. 18 nFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin5 a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person osins against his own body. 19 Or pdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? qYou are not your own, 20 rfor you were bought with a price. sSo glorify God in your body.


Ezekiel 4

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

And you, rson of man, stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. tAnd put siegeworks against it, uand build a siege wall against it, vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, wand plant battering rams against it all around. And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; xand set your face toward it, yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is za sign for the house of Israel.

Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment1 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ayou shall bear their punishment. For I assign to you a number of days, b390 days, cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. aSo long shall you bear dthe punishment of the house of Israel. And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ebear fthe punishment of the house of Judah. gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, iwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. And behold, jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed kthe days of your siege.

And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,2 and put them into a single vessel and make your lbread from them. mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, n390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be oby weight, ptwenty shekels3 a day; from day to day4 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;5 from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it qin their sight on human dung. 13 And the Lord said, Thus shall the people of Israel eat rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them. 14 Then I said, sAh, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.6 tFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten uwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has vtainted meat come into my mouth. 15 Then he said to me, See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread. 16 Moreover, he said to me, wSon of man, behold, xI will break the supply7 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread oby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water oby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ylook at one another in dismay, and zrot away because of their punishment.


Psalms 40–41

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

I uwaited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and vheard my cry.

He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,

out of xthe miry bog,

and yset my feet upon a rock,

zmaking my steps secure.

He put aa new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will bsee and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who cmakes

the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who dgo astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are gmore than can be told.

hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open iear.1

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:

kI delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is lwithin my heart.

I have told the glad news of deliverance2

in mthe great congregation;

behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,

oas you know, O Lord.

10  I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

11  As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

12  For evils have qencompassed me

beyond number;

my riniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot ssee;

they are tmore than the hairs of my head;

my heart ufails me.

13  vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!

O Lord, xmake haste to help me!

14  yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

15  Let those be appalled because of their shame

who asay to me, Aha, Aha!

16  But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

bsay continually, Great is the Lord!

17  As for me, I am cpoor and needy,

but dthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!3

fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.4

As for me, I said, O Lord, hbe gracious to me;

iheal me,5 for I have sinned against you!

My enemies say of me in malice,

When will he die, and his name perish?

And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.6

They say, A deadly thing is poured out7 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.

Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,

and pset me in your presence qforever.

13  rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.