David Lives among the Philistines

27¹ And David saith unto his heart, 'Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me—of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.' ² And David riseth, and passeth over, he and six hundred men who 'are' with him, unto Achish son of Maoch king of Gath; ³ and David dwelleth with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, 'even' David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess. ⁴ And it is declared to Saul that David hath fled to Gath, and he hath not added any more to seek him. ⁵ And David saith unto Achish, 'If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, they give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, yea, why doth thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?' ⁶ And Achish giveth to him in that day Ziklag, therefore hath Ziklag been to the kings of Judah till this day. ⁷ And the number of the days which David hath dwelt in the field of the Philistines 'is' days and four months;

⁸ and David goeth up and his men, and they push unto the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite, (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as thou comest in to Shur and unto the land of Egypt, ⁹ and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish. ¹⁰ And Achish saith, 'Whither have ye pushed to-day?' and David saith, 'Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.' ¹¹ Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in 'word' to Gath, saying, 'Lest they declare 'it' against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus 'is' his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.' ¹² And Achish believeth in David, saying, 'He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'

28¹ And it cometh to pass in those days, that the Philistines gather their camps for the war, to fight against Israel, and Achish saith unto David, 'Thou dost certainly know that with me thou dost go out into the camp, thou and thy men.' ² And David saith unto Achish, 'Therefore—thou dost know that which thy servant dost do.' And Achish saith unto David, 'Therefore—keeper of my head I do appoint thee all the days.'

Saul and the Medium at En-dor

³ And Samuel hath died, and all Israel mourn for him, and bury him in Ramah, even in his city, and Saul hath turned aside those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. ⁴ And the Philistines are gathered, and come in, and encamp in Shunem, and Saul gathereth all Israel, and they encamp in Gilboa, ⁵ and Saul seeth the camp of the Philistines, and feareth, and his heart trembleth greatly, ⁶ and Saul asketh at Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not answered him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

⁷ And Saul saith to his servants, 'Seek for me a woman possessing a familiar spirit, and I go unto her, and inquire of her;' and his servants say unto him, 'Lo, a woman possessing a familiar spirit in En-dor.' ⁸ And Saul disguiseth himself and putteth on other garments, and goeth, he and two of the men with him, and they come in unto the woman by night, and he saith, 'Divine, I pray thee, to me by the familiar spirit, and cause to come up to me him whom I say unto thee.' ⁹ And the woman saith unto him, 'Lo, thou hast known that which Saul hath done, that he hath cut off those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land; and why art thou laying a snare for my soul—to put me to death?' ¹⁰ And Saul sweareth to her by Jehovah, saying, 'Jehovah liveth, punishment doth not meet thee for this thing.' ¹¹ And the woman saith, 'Whom do I bring up to thee?' and he saith, 'Samuel—bring up to me.' ¹² And the woman seeth Samuel, and crieth with a loud voice, and the woman speaketh unto Saul, saying, 'Why hast thou deceived me—and thou Saul?' ¹³ And the king saith to her, 'Do not fear; for what hast thou seen?' and the woman saith unto Saul, 'Gods I have seen coming up out of the earth.' ¹⁴ And he saith to her, 'What 'is' his form?' and she saith, 'An aged man is coming up, and he 'is' covered with an upper robe;' and Saul knoweth that he 'is' Samuel, and boweth—face to thee earth—and doth obeisance.

¹⁵ And Samuel saith unto Saul, 'Why hast thou troubled me, to bring me up?' And Saul saith, 'I have great distress, and the Philistines are fighting against me, God hath turned aside from me, and hath not answered me any more, either by the hand of the prophets, or by dreams; and I call for thee to let me know what I do.' ¹⁶ And Samuel saith, 'And why dost thou ask me, and Jehovah hath turned aside from thee, and is thine enemy? ¹⁷ And Jehovah doth for Himself as He hath spoken by my hand, and Jehovah rendeth the kingdom out of thy hand, and giveth it to thy neighbour—to David. ¹⁸ Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, nor didst the fierceness of His anger on Amalek—therefore this thing hath Jehovah done to thee this day; ¹⁹ yea, Jehovah giveth also Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow thou and thy sons 'are' with me; also the camp of Israel doth Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.'

²⁰ And Saul hasteth and falleth—the fulness of his stature—to the earth, and feareth greatly because of the words of Samuel; also power was not in him, for he had not eaten bread all the day, and all the night. ²¹ And the woman cometh in unto Saul, and seeth that he hath been greatly troubled, and saith unto him, 'Lo, thy maid-servant hath hearkened to thy voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey thy words which thou hast spoken unto me; ²² and now, hearken, I pray thee, also thou, to the voice of thy maid-servant, and I set before thee a morsel of bread, and eat, and there is in thee power when thou goest in the way.' ²³ And he refuseth, and saith, 'I do not eat;' and his servants urge on him, and also the woman, and he hearkeneth to their voice, and riseth from the earth, and sitteth on the bed. ²⁴ And the woman hath a calf of the stall in the house, and she hasteth and slaughtereth it, and taketh flour, and kneadeth, and baketh it unleavened things, ²⁵ and bringeth nigh before Saul, and before his servants, and they eat, and rise, and go on, during that night.

The Philistines Distrust David

29¹ And the Philistines gather all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites are encamping at a fountain which 'is' in Jezreel, ² and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish. ³ And the heads of the Philistines say, 'What 'are' these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, 'Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything 'wrong' from the day of his falling away till this day.' ⁴ And the heads of the Philistines are wroth against him, and the heads of the Philistines say to him, 'Send back the man, and he doth turn back unto his place whither thou hast appointed him, and doth not go down with us into battle, and is not to us for an adversary in battle; and wherewith doth this one reconcile himself unto his lord—is it not with the heads of those men?' ⁵ Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

⁶ And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, 'Jehovah liveth, surely thou 'art' upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good; ⁷ and now, turn back, and go in peace, and thou dost do no evil in the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.' ⁸ And David saith unto Achish, 'But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant from the day that I have been before thee till this day—that I go not in and have fought against the enemies of my lord the king?' ⁹ And Achish answereth and saith unto David, 'I have known that thou 'art' good in mine eyes as a messenger of God; only, the princes of the Philistines have said, He doth not go up with us into battle; ¹⁰ and now, rise thou early in the morning, and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, when ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then go ye.' ¹¹ And David riseth early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to turn back unto the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone up to Jezreel.

Repent or Perish

13¹ And there were present certain at that time, telling him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate did mingle with their sacrifices; ² and Jesus answering said to them, 'Think ye that these Galileans became sinners beyond all the Galileans, because they have suffered such things? ³ No—I say to you, but, if ye may not reform, all ye even so shall perish. ⁴ 'Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; think ye that these became debtors beyond all men who are dwelling in Jerusalem? ⁵ No—I say to you, but, if ye may not reform, all ye in like manner shall perish.'

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶ And he spake this simile: 'A certain one had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit in it, and he did not find; ⁷ and he said unto the vine-dresser, Lo, three years I come seeking fruit in this fig-tree, and do not find, cut it off, why also the ground doth it render useless? ⁸ 'And he answering saith to him, Sir, suffer it also this year, till that I may dig about it, and cast in dung; ⁹ and if indeed it may bear fruit—; and if not so, thereafter thou shalt cut it off.'

A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath

¹⁰ And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath, ¹¹ and lo, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together, and not able to bend back at all, ¹² and Jesus having seen her, did call 'her' near, and said to her, 'Woman, thou hast been loosed from thy infirmity;' ¹³ and he laid on her 'his' hands, and presently she was set upright, and was glorifying God. ¹⁴ And the chief of the synagogue answering—much displeased that on the sabbath Jesus healed—said to the multitude, 'Six days there are in which it behoveth 'us' to be working; in these, then, coming, be healed, and not on the sabbath-day.' ¹⁵ Then the Lord answered him and said, 'Hypocrite, doth not each of you on the sabbath loose his ox or ass from the stall, and having led away, doth water 'it'? ¹⁶ and this one, being a daughter of Abraham, whom the Adversary bound, lo, eighteen years, did it not behove to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath-day?' ¹⁷ And he saying these things, all who were opposed to him were being ashamed, and all the multitude were rejoicing over all the glorious things that are being done by him.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

¹⁸ And he said, 'To what is the reign of God like? and to what shall I liken it? ¹⁹ It is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did cast into his garden, and it increased, and came to a great tree, and the fowls of the heavens did rest in its branches.'

The Parable of the Leaven

²⁰ And again he said, 'To what shall I liken the reign of God? ²¹ It is like leaven, which a woman, having taken, did hide in three measures of meal, till that all was leavened.'

The Narrow Gate

²² And he was going through cities and villages, teaching, and making progress toward Jerusalem;