1 Kingdoms 29-31
1 All the encampments of the Philistines gathered at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped in Endor in Jezreel. 2 And the captains of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands. David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the captains of the Philistines said, “Who are these passing by in review?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel? The one who has been with us daily for the last two years? I have found no fault in him from the day he defected to me until today.”
4 But the commanders of the Philistines were grieved because of him; so they said to him, “Return the man to the place you appointed for him. Do not let him go with us to battle, for fear that he become our adversary in the battle. For what better way could he have to reconcile himself to his lord, if not with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, about whom they sang in dances, saying:
‘Saul slew his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright with me in the camp and good in my sight, in both your going out and your coming in. To this very day I have found no evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless, you are not favored in the sight of the lords of the Philistines. 7 Therefore return now and go in peace; thus you shall not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.”
8 So David said to Achish, “But what have I done to you? And from the day I came up to you to this day, what in your servant have you found, that I may not fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9 Then Achish answered to David, “I know that you are good in my sight; nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now rise up early in the morning, you and your servants who came with you, and go to the place I established for you. Do not keep an evil thought in your heart, because you are good in my sight. And rise early in the morning and depart at first light.”
11 So David arose early, he and his men, to depart and to guard the land of the Philistines. The Philistines went up to battle at Jezreel.
The Battle with the Amalekites
1 Now before David and his men entered Ziklag on the third day, Amalek had entered and attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire. 2 They did not kill the women, and all who were there, from small to great, were carried away captive as they went on their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and it was burned with fire. Their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive. 4 Then David and the people with him lifted up their voices and wept until they were too tired to weep anymore. 5 And both David’s wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite woman and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, were taken captive.
6 Now David was greatly distressed, because the people spoke of stoning him, for the life of every person was grieved, each for his sons and for his daughters. But David became strong in the Lord his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Bring the ephod.” 8 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Surely, I shall pursue after this troop, but what if I overcome them?” And the Lord answered him, “Pursue them. For in overtaking them you shall surely apprehend the troop, delivering the captives.”
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men with him, and they came to the brook Besor. The rest of his men stayed behind. 10 David pursued them with four hundred men; two hundred men stayed behind, staying on the other side of the brook Besor. 11 They then found an Egyptian man in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 They also gave him a piece of fig cake. After eating, his strength came back to him, for he was without bread or water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”
The young Egyptian man said, “I am the servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We invaded the south of the Cholthi, and in the region of Judah, and the south area of Caleb. We burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”
So the young servant said, “By God, first swear to me that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hand of my master, and then I will take you down to this troop.” 16 And when he brought him there, they were there spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and celebrating, because of all the great plunder taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then from the morning star until the evening of the next day, David came upon them and attacked them. Not a man of them was saved, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered everything the Amalekites took, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, or sons or daughters, or plunder, or anything taken from them. David recovered it all. 20 And David took all the flocks and herds and put them ahead of the plunder. Concerning the plunder, it was said, “This is David’s plunder.”
21 Now David returned to the two hundred men, the ones too weary to follow after David, whom he made stay there at the brook Besor. Upon his return, they went out to meet David and to meet the people with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them in peace. 22 But all the ill-disposed and the worthless men who had gone and fought with David said in response, “They did not go with us, and so they will not receive any of the plunder we recovered, except let each one lead away with him his wife and his children, and let them return.” 23 But David said, “My brethren, this you shall not do with what the Lord has given us, who preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 And who will heed your words? For they are not inferior to you. Instead, they shall share alike, each according to the portion of him who went down to the battle, as being the same portion of him who stayed behind with the supplies.” 25 So it was, from that day forward, it became an ordinance and a statute in Israel to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah and to his friends, saying, “Behold, from the plunder of the enemies of the Lord”— 27 to those who were in Beth Shur, to those who were in Ramah of the South, to those who were in Jattir, 28 to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Ammadi, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 to those who were in Gath and in Kinan, and to those in Saphek, and to those in Thimath, 30 to those who were in Carmel, to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 31 to those who were in Jerimouth, to those who were in Beersheba, to those who were in Noo, 32 to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to pass through.
The Death of Saul and His Sons
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines. They fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle weighed heavily against Saul. The javelin-throwers and the archers hit him, and he was wounded in the belly.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it. Do not let these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer would not do it, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, and his armor-bearer died together that same day. 7 And when the men of Israel, those on the other side of the valley and those 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. The Philistines came and settled in them.
8 So the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they turned him over and stripped off his armor. They then sent them and his armor into the land of the Philistines, proclaiming the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 Then they placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and fastened his body onto the wall of Beth Shan.
11 And the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines did to Saul. 12 And all the valiant men arose and traveled all night in order to remove the body of Saul and the body of Jonathan his son from the wall of Beth Shan. They carried them to Jabesh and buried them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the field at Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
Psalm 88:1–19
1 Concerning understanding; for Ethan the Israelite.
2 O Lord, I will sing of Your mercies forever;
I will proclaim Your truth with my mouth from generation to generation;
3 For You said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your truth shall be prepared in the heavens.
4 I made a covenant with My chosen ones;
I swore to David My servant,
5 I shall prepare your seed forever,
And I shall build your throne from generation to generation.”
(Pause)
6 The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord,
And Your truth in the church of the saints.
7 For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord,
And who among the sons of God shall be compared to the Lord?
8 God is glorified in the counsel of saints;
He is great and fearful toward all round about Him.
9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like You?
You are powerful, O Lord, and Your truth is around You.
10 You are master of the sea’s strength,
And You calm the surging of its waves.
11 You humbled the arrogant man as though he were wounded,
And with the arm of Your power You scattered Your enemies.
12 The heavens belong to You, and the earth is Yours;
You founded the world and all its fullness.
13 You created the north wind and the seas;
Tabor and Hermon shall greatly rejoice in Your name.
14 Your arm rules with power;
Let Your hand be strengthened; let Your right hand be exalted.
15 The foundation of Your throne is righteousness and judgment;
Mercy and truth shall go before Your face.
16 Blessed are the people who know glad shouting;
O Lord, they shall walk in the light of Your face,
17 And shall greatly rejoice in Your name the whole day long;
And they shall be exalted in Your righteousness.
18 For You are the boast of their power,
And in Your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted.
19 For our defense is from the Lord
And from the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Proverbs 18:18–23
18 An allotment of land ends controversies,
And it determines the boundary between princes.
19 A brother aided by his brother is like a strong and fortified city,
And he is strong like a well-founded palace.
20 From the fruits of his mouth a man fills his stomach,
And from the fruits of his lips he will fill himself to the full.
21 Life and death are in the hand of a tongue,
And those who rule over it will eat the fruits thereof.
22 He who finds a good wife finds benefits
And receives cheerfulness from God.
23 He who casts out a good wife casts out good things,
And he who keeps adulteresses is without discernment and is ungodly.
Luke 12:35–59
35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
38 “And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
39 “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
40 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
43 “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
44 “Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
45 “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
46 “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Christ Brings Division
(Matt. 10:34–39)
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!
51 “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
52 “For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
53 “Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Discern the Time
(Matt. 16:1–4)
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.
55 “And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.
56 “Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
Make Peace with Your Adversary
57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?
58 “When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.
59 “I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”