251 Then Samuel died ; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah . And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran .
2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel ; and the man was very rich , and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats . And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man's name was Nabal , and his wife's name was Abigail . And the woman was intelligent e and beautiful in appearance , but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings , and he was a Calebite ), 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep . 5 So David sent ten young men ; and David said to the young men , "Go up to Carmel , visit e Nabal and greet e him in my name ; 6 and thus you shall say , 'Have a long life , peace be to you, and peace be to your house , and peace be to all that you have. 7 'Now I have heard that you have shearers ; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days 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 have come on a festive day . Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David .' " 9 When David's young men came , they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name ; then they waited . 10 But Nabal answered David's servants and said , " Who is David ? And who is the son of Jesse ? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master . 11 "Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers , and give it to men whose origin e e I do not know ?"
12 So David's young men retraced their way and went back ; and they came and told him according to all these words . 13 David said to his men , "Each of you gird on his sword ." So each man girded on his sword . And David also girded on his sword , and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage . 14 But one of the young men told Abigail , Nabal's wife , saying , "Behold , David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master , and he scorned them. 15 "Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted , nor did we miss anything as long e as we went about with them, while we were in the fields . 16 " They were a wall to us both by night and by day , all the time we were with them tending the sheep . 17 "Now therefore, know and consider what you should do , for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household ; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him."
18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs , and loaded them on donkeys . 19 She said to her young men , " Go on before me; behold , I am coming after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal . 20 It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain , that behold , David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. 21 Now David had said , "Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness , so that nothing e was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good . 22 " May God do so to the enemies of David , and more also , if by morning I leave as much as one male e of any who belong to him." 23 When Abigail saw David , she hurried and dismounted from her donkey , and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground . 24 She fell at his feet and said , "On me alone , my lord , be the blame . And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant . 25 "Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man , Nabal , for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent . 26 "Now therefore, my lord , as the Lord lives , and as your soul lives , since the Lord has restrained you from shedding blood , and from avenging yourself by your own hand , now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord , be as Nabal . 27 "Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany e my lord . 28 "Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant ; for the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house , because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord , and evil will not be found in you all your days . 29 "Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life , then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God ; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling . 30 "And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel , 31 this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord , both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord , then remember your maidservant ."
32 Then David said to Abigail , " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel , who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment , and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand . 34 "Nevertheless , as the Lord God of Israel lives , who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely e there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male e ." 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, " Go up to your house in peace . See , I have listened to you and granted your request ."
36 Then Abigail came to Nabal , and behold , he was holding a feast in his house , like the feast of a king . And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very e drunk ; so she did not tell him anything at all e until the morning light . 37 But in the morning , when the wine had gone out of Nabal , his wife told him these things , and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone . 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died . 39 When David heard that Nabal was dead , he said , "Blessed be the Lord , who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil . The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head ." Then David sent a proposal to Abigail , to take her as his wife . 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel , they spoke to her, saying , "David has sent us to you to take you as his wife ." 41 She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said , "Behold , your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord's servants ." 42 Then Abigail quickly arose , and rode on a donkey , with her five maidens who attended e her; and she followed e the messengers of David and became his wife . 43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel , and they both e became his wives . 44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter , David's wife , to Palti the son of Laish , who was from Gallim .
261 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah , saying , " Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah , which is before e Jeshimon ?" 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph , having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel , to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph . 3 Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah , which is before e Jeshimon , beside the road , and David was staying in the wilderness . When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness , 4 David sent out spies , and he knew that Saul was definitely coming . 5 David then arose and came to the place where e Saul had camped . And David saw the place where e Saul lay , and Abner the son of Ner , the commander of his army ; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp , and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah , Joab's brother , saying , "Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp ?" And Abishai said , "I will go down with you." 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night , and behold , Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head ; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David , "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand ; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke , and I will not strike him the second time ." 9 But David said to Abishai , "Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord'S anointed and be without guilt ?" 10 David also said , "As the Lord lives , surely e the Lord will strike him, or his day will come that he dies , or he will go down into battle and perish . 11 " The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord'S anointed ; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water , and let us go ." 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul's head , and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake , for they were all asleep , because a sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. 14 David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner , saying , "Will you not answer , Abner ?" Then Abner replied , "Who are you who calls to the king ?" 15 So David said to Abner , "Are you not a man ? And who is like you in Israel ? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king ? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord . 16 "This thing that you have done is not good . As the Lord lives , all of you must surely die , because you did not guard your lord , the Lord'S anointed . And now , see where the king's spear is and the jug of water that was at his head ." 17 Then Saul recognized David's voice and said , " Is this your voice , my son David ?" And David said , "It is my voice , my lord the king ." 18 He also said , " Why then is my lord pursuing his servant ? For what have I done ? Or what evil is in my hand ? 19 "Now therefore, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant . If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering ; but if it is men e , cursed are they before the Lord , for they have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of the Lord , saying , 'Go , serve other gods .' 20 "Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord ; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea , just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains ."
21 Then Saul said , " I have sinned . Return , my son David , for I will not harm you again because e my life was precious in your sight this day . Behold , I have played the fool and have committed a serious e error ." 22 David replied , "Behold the spear of the king ! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 " The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness ; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today , but I refused e to stretch out my hand against the Lord'S anointed . 24 "Now behold , as your life was highly valued in my sight this day , so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord , and may He deliver me from all distress ." 25 Then Saul said to David , " Blessed are you, my son David ; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail ." So David went on his way , and Saul returned to his place .
32 " Do not be afraid , little flock , for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom . 33 " Sell your possessions and give to charity ; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven , where no thief comes near nor moth destroys . 34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also .
35 " Be dressed in readiness , and keep your lamps lit . 36 "Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast , so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks . 37 "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes ; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 " Whether he comes in the second watch , or even in the third , and finds them so , blessed are those slaves. 39 " But be sure of this , that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming , he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 40 " You too , be ready ; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect ."
41 Peter said , "Lord , are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well ?" 42 And the Lord said , " Who then is the faithful and sensible steward , whom his master will put in charge of his servants , to give them their rations at the proper time ? 43 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes . 44 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions . 45 "But if that slave says in his heart , 'My master will be a long time in coming ,' and begins to beat the slaves e , both men and women , and to eat and drink and get drunk ; 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know , and will cut him in pieces , and assign him a place with the unbelievers . 47 "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will , will receive many lashes , 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging , will receive but few . From everyone who has been given much , much will be required ; and to whom they entrusted much , of him they will ask all the more .
49 "I have come to cast fire upon the earth ; and how I wish it were already kindled ! 50 "But I have a baptism to undergo , and how distressed I am until it is accomplished ! 51 " Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth ? I tell you, no , but rather division ; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided , three against two and two against three . 53 "They will be divided , father against son and son against father , mother against daughter and daughter against mother , mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law ."
54 And He was also saying to the crowds , " When you see a cloud rising in the west , immediately you say , 'A shower is coming ,' and so it turns out. 55 "And when you see a south wind blowing , you say , 'It will be a hot day,' and it turns out that way. 56 "You hypocrites ! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky , but why do you not analyze this present time ?
57 "And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right ? 58 "For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate , on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge , and the judge turn you over to the officer , and the officer throw you into prison . 59 "I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent ."
(Read Luke 12:22-40)
Christ largely insisted upon this caution not to give way to disquieting, perplexing cares, Matthew 6:25-34. The arguments here used are for our encouragement to cast our care upon God, which is the right way to get ease. As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is. An eager, anxious pursuit of the things of this world, even necessary things, ill becomes the disciples of Christ. Fears must not prevail; when we frighten ourselves with thoughts of evil to come, and put ourselves upon needless cares how to avoid it. If we value the beauty of holiness, we shall not crave the luxuries of life. Let us then examine whether we belong to this little flock. Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him. In this Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return to judge the world. We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready. If men thus take care of their houses, let us be thus wise for our souls. Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come.
(Read Luke 12:41-53)
All are to take to themselves what Christ says in his word, and to inquire concerning it. No one is left so ignorant as not to know many things to be wrong which he does, and many things to be right which he neglects; therefore all are without excuse in their sin. The bringing in the gospel dispensation would occasion desolations. Not that this would be the tendency of Christ's religion, which is pure, peaceable, and loving; but the effect of its being contrary to men's pride and lusts. There was to be a wide publication of the gospel. But before that took place, Christ had a baptism to be baptized with, far different from that of water and the Holy Spirit. He must endure sufferings and death. It agreed not with his plan to preach the gospel more widely, till this baptism was completed. We should be zealous in making known the truth, for though divisions will be stirred up, and a man's own household may be his foes, yet sinners will be converted, and God will be glorified.
(Read Luke 12:54-59)
Christ would have the people to be as wise in the concerns of their souls as they are in outward affairs. Let them hasten to obtain peace with God before it is too late. If any man has found that God has set himself against him concerning his sins, let him apply to him as God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. While we are alive, we are in the way, and now is our time.
