The King James Version of the Bible
Part 101
2272 words | Chapter 101
Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
23:9 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him;
and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
23:10 Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath
certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the
city for my sake.
23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul
come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech
thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.
23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men
into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.
23:13 Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and
departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it
was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go
forth.
23:14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained
in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every
day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
23:15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David
was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
23:16 And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood,
and strengthened his hand in God.
23:17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father
shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall
be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
23:18 And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in
the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not
David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of
Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 23:20 Now therefore, O
king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down;
and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.
23:21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion
on me.
23:22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where
his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he
dealeth very subtilly.
23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places
where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty,
and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the
land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of
Judah.
23:24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his
men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of
Jeshimon.
23:25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David;
wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of
Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the
wilderness of Maon.
23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his
men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for
fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round
about to take them.
23:27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and
come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.
23:28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went
against the Philistines: therefore they called that place
Selahammahlekoth.
23:29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at
Engedi.
24:1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the
Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the
wilderness of Engedi.
24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and
went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and
Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the
sides of the cave.
24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the
LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine
hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then
David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him,
because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
24:6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this
thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
24:7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them
not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went
on his way.
24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried
after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words,
saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 24:10 Behold, this day thine
eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine
hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared
thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for
he is the LORD’s anointed.
24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my
hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee
not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in
mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my
soul to take it.
24:12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of
thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
24:13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from
the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou
pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
24:15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and
see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
24:16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking
these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son
David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.
24:17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou
hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
24:18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with
me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou
killedst me not.
24:19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me
this day.
24:20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and
that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
24:21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut
off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my
father’s house.
24:22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his
men gat them up unto the hold.
25:1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together,
and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David
arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel;
and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a
thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife
Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful
countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he
was of the house of Caleb.
25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
25:5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young
men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
25:6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be
both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that
thou hast.
25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds
which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing
unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the
young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give,
I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to
thy son David.
25:9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to
all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
25:10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and
who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break
away every man from his master.
25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I
have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not
whence they be? 25:12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went
again, and came and told him all those sayings.
25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And
they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his
sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two
hundred abode by the stuff.
25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying,
Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our
master; and he railed on them.
25:15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt,
neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them,
when we were in the fields: 25:16 They were a wall unto us both by
night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is
determined against our master, and against all his household: for he
is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
25:18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two
bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of
parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred
cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
25:19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come
after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
25:20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the
covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against
her; and she met them.
25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this
fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that
pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
25:22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of
all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against
the wall.
25:23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass,
and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
25:24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let
this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine
audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even
Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is
with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom
thou didst send.
25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed
blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine
enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
25:27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my
lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
25:28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the
LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord
fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee
all thy days.
25:29 Yet a man is r
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