David Defeats the Amalekites

301 And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way. 3 And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. 8 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly recover. 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind. 10 And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor. 11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink, 12 and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what [belongs] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. 15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop. 16 And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled. 18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: and David recovered his two wives. 19 And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back. 20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before the other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

21 And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them. 22 And all the wicked men, and [men] of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [aught] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away and depart. 23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah has given us, who has preserved us, and given the troop that came against us into our hand. 24 And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike. 25 And it was [so] from that day forward; and he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. 26 And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah: 27 to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir, 28 and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa, 29 and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites, 30 and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach, 31 and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.

The Death of Saul and His Sons

311 And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers. 4 Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together. 7 And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and [they] that were on this side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

8 And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent [them] into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people. 10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

23 And one said to him, Sir, [are] such as are to be saved few in number? But he said unto them, 24 Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. 25 From the time that the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he answering shall say to you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets; 27 and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out. 29 And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem

31 The same hour certain Pharisees came up, saying to him, Get out, and go hence, for Herod is desirous to kill thee. 32 And he said to them, Go, tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third [day] I am perfected; 33 but I must needs walk to-day and to-morrow and the [day] following, for it must not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the [city] that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen her brood under her wings, and ye would not. 35 Behold, your house is left unto you; and I say unto you, that ye shall not see me until it come that ye say, Blessed [is] he that comes in the name of [the] Lord.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 13:23-35

Commentary on Luke 13:23-30

(Read Luke 13:23-30)

Our Saviour came to guide men's consciences, not to gratify their curiosity. Ask not, How many shall be saved? But, Shall I be one of them? Not, What shall become of such and such? But, What shall I do, and what will become of me? Strive to enter in at the strait gate. This is directed to each of us; it is, Strive ye. All that will be saved, must enter in at the strait gate, must undergo a change of the whole man. Those that would enter in, must strive to enter. Here are awakening considerations, to enforce this exhortation. Oh that we may be all awakened by them! They answer the question, Are there few that shall be saved? But let none despond either as to themselves or others, for there are last who shall be first, and first who shall be last. If we reach heaven, we shall meet many there whom we little thought to meet, and miss many whom we expected to find.

Commentary on Luke 13:31-35

(Read Luke 13:31-35)

Christ, in calling Herod a fox, gave him his true character. The greatest of men were accountable to God, therefore it became him to call this proud king by his own name; but it is not an example for us. I know, said our Lord, that I must die very shortly; when I die, I shall be perfected, I shall have completed my undertaking. It is good for us to look upon the time we have before us as but little, that we may thereby be quickened to do the work of the day in its day. The wickedness of persons and places which more than others profess religion and relation to God, especially displeases and grieves the Lord Jesus. The judgment of the great day will convince unbelievers; but let us learn thankfully to welcome, and to profit by all who come in the name of the Lord, to call us to partake of his great salvation.