The Death of Samuel
1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal bwas shearing his sheep. 5 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. 6 And thus you shall greet him:1 d‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 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. 8 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.’”
9 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, g“Who 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 seahs2 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 David3 and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
Divisions in the Church
1 But I, brothers,1 could not address you as aspiritual people, but as bpeople of the flesh, as cinfants in Christ. 2 dI fed you with milk, not solid food, for eyou were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is fjealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For gwhen one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” hare you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? iServants through whom you believed, jas the Lord assigned to each. 6 kI planted, lApollos watered, mbut God gave the growth. 7 So nneither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each owill receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are pGod’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, qGod’s building.
10 rAccording to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled2 master builder I laid a sfoundation, and tsomeone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a ufoundation other vthan that which is laid, wwhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 xeach one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed yby fire, and zthe fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ahe will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire.
16 cDo you not know that you3 are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For dGod’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 eLet no one deceive himself. fIf anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For gthe wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, h“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, i“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So jlet no one boast in men. For kall things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and lyou are Christ’s, and mChrist is God’s.
