1 Samuel 28-31New King James Version (NKJV)
28 Now it happened in those days that the
Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And
Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to
battle, you and your men.”
2 So David said to Achish, “Surely
you know what your servant can do.”
And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of
my chief guardians forever.”
Saul Consults a Medium
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel
had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put
the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
4 Then the Philistines gathered
together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel
together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul
saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled
greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord,
the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the
prophets.
7 Then Saul said to his servants,
“Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”
And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a
woman who is a medium at En Dor.”
8 So Saul disguised himself and put
on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman
by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the
one I shall name to you.”
9 Then the woman said to him, “Look,
you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists
from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
10 And Saul swore to her by
the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment
shall come upon you for this thing.”
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I
bring up for you?”
And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she
cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you
deceived me? For you are Saul!”
13 And the king said to her, “Do not
be afraid. What did you see?”
And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit[a] ascending out of the
earth.”
14 So he said to her, “What is his
form?”
And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered
with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he
stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.
15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have
you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the
Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not
answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called
you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you
ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your
enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for
Himself[b]as He spoke by me. For
the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your
neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the
voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore
the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover
the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the
Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.
The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the
Philistines.”
20 Immediately Saul fell full length
on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And
there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.
21 And the woman came to Saul and saw
that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has
obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words
which you spoke to me. 22 Now therefore, please,
heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before
you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”
23 But he refused and said, “I will
not eat.”
So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he
heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. 24 Now
the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she
took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from
it. 25 So she brought it before
Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.
The Philistines Reject David
29 Then the Philistines gathered together all
their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in
Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines passed
in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review
at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the princes of the
Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this
not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days,
or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he
defected to me.”
4 But the princes of the Philistines
were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this
fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for
him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become
our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not
with the heads of these men? 5 Is this
not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying:
6 Then Achish called David and said to
him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been
upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good
in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your
coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7 Therefore
return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the
Philistines.”
8 So David said to Achish, “But what
have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I
have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord
the king?”
9 Then Achish answered and said to
David, “I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of
God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up
with us to the battle.’ 10 Now therefore, rise
early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you.[d] And as soon as you are
up early in the morning and have light, depart.”
11 So David and his men rose early to
depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the
Philistines went up to Jezreel.
David’s Conflict with the Amalekites
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came
to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and
Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and
had taken captive the women and those who were there, from
small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away
and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to
the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and
their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then
David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices
and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And
David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the
Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was
greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of
all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David
strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the
priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar
brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of
the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”
And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely
overtake them and without fail recover all.”
9 So David went, he and the six
hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor,
where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But
David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who
were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the
field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they
let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece
of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his
strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three
days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him,
“To whom do you belong, and where are you
from?”
And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt,
servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I
fell sick. 14 We made an invasion of the
southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to
Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag
with fire.”
15 And David said to him, “Can you
take me down to this troop?”
So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill
me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this
troop.”
16 And when he had brought him down,
there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing,
because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the
Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then
David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man
of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and
fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites
had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And
nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil
or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. 20 Then
David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock,
and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Now David came to the two hundred
men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had
made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the
people who were with him. And when David came near the people,
he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and
worthless men[e] of those who went with
David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give
them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every
man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and
depart.”
23 But David said, “My brethren, you
shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us
and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For
who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes
down to the battle, so shall his part be who
stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So
it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel
to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he
sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends,
saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of
the Lord”— 27 to those who were in
Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the
South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in
Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in
Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in
Rachal, those who were in the cities of the
Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities
of the Kenites, 30 those who were in
Hormah, those who were in Chorashan,[f] those who were in
Athach, 31 those who were in
Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed
to rove.
The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons
31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel;
and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount
Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after
Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and
Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce
against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer,
“Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men
come and thrust me through and abuse me.”
But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid.
Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And
when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and
died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his
armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.
7 And when the men of Israel
who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on
the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul
and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines
came and dwelt in them. 8 So it happened the next
day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his
three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut
off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout
the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of
their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put
his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the
wall of Beth Shan.[g]
11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh
Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all
the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the
bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and
burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones
and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted
seven days.
Psalm 18New King James Version (NKJV)
God the Sovereign Savior
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David
the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this
song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his
enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
18 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered from
heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.[a]
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.[a]
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the merciful You will show
Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
28 For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
31 For who is God,
except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield
of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued my enemies and
overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the
strivings of the people;
You have made me the head of the nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45 The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
You have made me the head of the nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45 The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
50 Great deliverance He gives to His
king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
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