1 Samuel 29

¹Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.

³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. There were twenty-two cities, along with their villages.

¹Some time after these events, Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

¹⁸the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

³⁰The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

³⁰Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

¹Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”

²David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.” “Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

⁶So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.

⁷Therefore turn back now and go in peace, so that you will not do anything to displease the leaders of the Philistines.”

³from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;

⁴“What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. “Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.

⁸So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” “It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel.

⁹But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the Lord’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.

⁷And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

⁵Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the Lord will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the Lord’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

⁶As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

²¹And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps to join the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

⁶That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.

¹⁹Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)

⁸The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

¹¹But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

⁶As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.

⁷And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

¹⁴If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.

²⁵Surely you realize that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to track your movements and all that you are doing.”

²⁷But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.

³But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁸The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

¹⁶And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.

⁶“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

³⁴“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”

¹³Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

²⁹“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”

³Here I am. Bear witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

¹⁸And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?

¹⁸“Not at all,” Hushai answered. “For the one chosen by the Lord, by this people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and with him I will remain.

¹⁹Furthermore, whom should I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, so also I will serve in yours.”

²⁷and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. Yet my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do what is good in your eyes.

²⁰Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”

¹⁷And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

¹⁴And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?

¹⁹Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)

²²For at that time men came to David day after day to help him, until he had a great army, like the army of God.

¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

⁹if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

¹On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

²They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

¹⁴And Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

⁴And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

¹Now the Philistines brought all their forces together at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,