20 The Lord dealt with me naccording to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his rules1 were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is oyou who light my lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 pThis God—his way is perfect;2
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And qwho is a rock, except our God?—
32 the God who requipped me with strength
and made my way blameless.
33 sHe made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
34 He ttrains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.
36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not uslip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were vnot able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,3
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the people;
you made me the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,
48 who rescued me from my enemies;
yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from the man of violence.
49 wFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing to your name.
50 Great xsalvation he brings to his king,
and shows ysteadfast love to his zanointed,
to David and his offspring aforever.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
David Spares Saul’s Life
1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took mthree 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 to relieve himself.1 Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “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 nDavid’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, o“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 the Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and 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. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you.2 I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for 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 there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12 May 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? After a pdead dog! After a qflea! 15 May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, r“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, for 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, sI know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that 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 to the stronghold.
The New Life
17 Now this I say and ntestify in the Lord, that you must ono longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the pfutility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, qalienated from the life of God because of the rignorance that is in them, due to their shardness of heart. 19 They have become tcallous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is unot the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were vtaught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to wput off your xold self,1 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be yrenewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the znew self, acreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away bfalsehood, let each one of you cspeak the truth with his neighbor, for dwe are members one of another. 26 eBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and fgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest gwork with his own hands, hso that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 iLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for jbuilding up, as fits the occasion, kthat it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And ldo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were msealed for the nday of redemption. 31 oLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be pkind to one another, tenderhearted, qforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
