Paul Defends His Ministry

10 ^(A)I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^(B)meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ² I beg of you ^(C)that when I am present I may not have to show ^(D)boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the ^(E)weapons of ^(F)our warfare are not of the flesh but have ^(G)divine power ^(H)to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and ^(I)every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^(J)obey Christ, ^6 (K)being ready to punish every disobedience, ^(L)when your obedience is complete.

^7 (M)Look at what is before your eyes. ^(N)If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as ^(O)he is Christ's, ^(P)so also are we. ⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of ^(Q)our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^(R)his bodily presence is weak, and ^(S)his speech of no account.” ¹¹ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. ¹² Not that we dare to classify or ^(T)compare ourselves with some of those who ^(U)are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are ^(V)without understanding.

¹³ But we will not boast ^(W)beyond limits, but will ^(X)boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, ^(Y)to reach even to you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. ^(Z)For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵ We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ^(AA)as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be ^(AB)greatly enlarged, ¹⁶ so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. ¹⁷ “Let ^(AC)the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it is ^(AD)not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^(AE)whom the Lord commends.

David Spares Saul's Life

24 ^{[a] (A)}When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ² Then Saul took ^(B)three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. ³ And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in ^(C)to relieve himself.^[b] Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts ^(D)of the cave. ⁴ And the men of David said to him, ^(E)“Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. ⁵ And afterward ^(F)David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. ⁶ He said to his men, ^(G)“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is ^(H)the Lord's anointed.” ⁷ So David persuaded his men with these words ^(I)and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

⁸ Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. ⁹ And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? ¹⁰ Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. ^(J)And some told me to kill you, but I spared you.^[c] I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, ^(K)for he is the Lord's anointed.’ ¹¹ See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that ^(L)there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though ^(M)you hunt my life to take it. ^12 (N)May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? ^(O)After a dead dog! ^(P)After a flea! ^15 (Q)May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and ^(R)plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

¹⁶ As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ^(S)“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷ He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, ^(T)for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. ¹⁸ And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. ¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ And now, behold, ^(U)I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ^21 (V)Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and ^(W)that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” ²² And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up ^(X)to the stronghold.

The Death of Samuel

25 ^(Y)Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled ^(Z)and mourned for him, and they buried him ^(AA)in his house at ^(AB)Ramah.

David and Abigail

Then David rose and went down to ^(AC)the wilderness of Paran. ² And there was a man in ^(AD)Maon whose business was in ^(AE)Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. ^(AF)He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; ^(AG)he was a Calebite. ⁴ David heard in the wilderness that Nabal ^(AH)was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. ⁶ And thus you shall greet him: ^(AI)‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. ⁷ I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, ^(AJ)and they missed nothing all the time 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 come ^(AK)on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. ¹⁰ And Nabal answered David's servants, ^(AL)“Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? ^(AM)There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. ¹¹ Shall I take ^(AN)my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to ^(AO)men who come from I do not know where?” ¹² So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. ¹³ And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And ^(AP)about four hundred men went up after David, ^(AQ)while two hundred ^(AR)remained with the baggage.

¹⁴ But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. ¹⁵ Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, ^(AS)and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. ¹⁶ They were ^(AT)a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, ^(AU)for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such ^(AV)a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs^[d] of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. ¹⁹ And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, ^(AW)so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has ^(AX)returned me evil for good. ^22 (AY)God do so to the enemies of David^[e] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried ^(AZ)and got down from the donkey ^(BA)and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, ^(BB)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. ²⁵ Let not my lord regard ^(BC)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal^[f] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. ²⁶ Now then, my lord, ^(BD)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ^(BE)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from ^(BF)saving with your own hand, now then ^(BG)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now let this ^(BH)present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord ^(BI)a sure house, because my lord ^(BJ)is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. ²⁹ If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies ^(BK)he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰ And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince^[g] over Israel, ³¹ my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord ^(BL)working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

³² And David said to Abigail, ^(BM)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³ Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, ^(BN)who have kept me this day from bloodguilt ^(BO)and from working salvation with my own hand! ³⁴ For as surely ^(BP)as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(BQ)who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” ³⁵ Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, ^(BR)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, ^(BS)he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart ^(BT)was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing ^(BU)at all until the morning light. ³⁷ In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸ And about ten days later ^(BV)the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ^(BW)“Blessed be the Lord who has ^(BX)avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, ^(BY)and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. ^(BZ)The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and ^(CA)spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she rose ^(CB)and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of ^(CC)Jezreel, ^(CD)and both of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.