1 Samuel 30

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

⁷Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

⁶Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

⁹Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,

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?

⁶²Now Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev.

¹¹David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.

⁸By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.

⁹Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

¹⁹Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

¹⁰Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.

¹¹and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

⁹As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

⁶For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”

⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁴When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

⁴When the angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.

¹³When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

²So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.

³⁹And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.

¹Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.

²So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

⁴²So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

⁴³David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

³David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

²He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

²And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

³his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

³When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.

⁴In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹¹in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

⁵Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.

¹Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

²When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.

²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁰But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.

²¹And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

²So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

²⁶During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”

¹⁸So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

²So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

¹⁹So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go up,” replied the Lord, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

¹⁵When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

²³So David inquired of the Lord, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

²So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

⁹So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

²⁰Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.

³¹That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.

⁴Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.

⁵So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁷Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.

²⁰On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

³⁵For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,

⁷If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

⁸Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

³⁶Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

¹⁹So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day.

²⁷Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

⁶³“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

¹³Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

²⁹He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.

³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

¹⁷Now the Lord had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

¹³For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.

¹³If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,

¹⁴what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?

¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

¹⁶therefore this is what the Lord God says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast.

⁵Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”

³⁸Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.

⁴⁴And with Solomon, the king has sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, and they have set him on the king’s mule.

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

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.

¹³He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

¹⁶‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.

¹⁹All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

²⁰This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”

¹⁵And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

¹⁰And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.

¹¹But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them.

³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

²⁷People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

²⁸Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”

³⁴But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

¹Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

¹¹The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

⁴²I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.

¹⁶Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

²⁹For seven days the armies camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle ensued, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.

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.

³Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

¹⁶He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people.

⁹Because you have made the Lord your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High—

¹⁰no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.

⁸and David inquired of the Lord: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the Lord replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

⁹Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

¹⁰Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

¹⁰Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹⁴And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹⁵During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

²⁶When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord’s enemies.”

¹²Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

²⁵Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.

¹⁰Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,

¹⁰because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

¹Continue in brotherly love.

¹⁵And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

¹³that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),

¹²In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

¹⁷Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

²And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

¹³And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

²⁵My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

¹⁸But remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

²With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.

³For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

⁷The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul.

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

⁴⁹and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.

⁵⁰So we have brought to the Lord an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

¹⁰When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the Lord your God for the good land that He has given you.

⁷The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

²⁷Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

⁸saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”

¹²“Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.

²⁷Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

²⁷May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the Lord who delights in His servant’s well-being.”

¹Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;

²they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

¹¹Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you beforehand and make arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. This way, your gift will be prepared generously and not begrudgingly.

¹⁸You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

⁴⁸These were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

⁸and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Simeon.

¹⁴Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁹and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

²²The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

²³They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),

²Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

¹⁶The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau beyond Medeba,

⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

¹⁴Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁰who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”

¹⁶Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.

⁶And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?

¹⁷Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁴⁵Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

¹Some time later, David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” “Go up,” the Lord answered. Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” replied the Lord.

⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

¹Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed.

¹³Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.

¹⁴Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.