1 Samuel 23:19–26

¹AND the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

³And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

¹SAVE me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

²Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

⁴Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

⁵He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.

⁷For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

⁷Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;

⁸That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

¹²If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.

¹²Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.

¹¹And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

¹²They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

¹³And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.

²¹And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

⁶¶ And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the Lord shall choose;

²³The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the Lord.

¹⁰The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

³For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

⁸That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

⁵¶ Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

²And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son.

¹¹The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

³For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

¹³He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

¹⁰As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

¹¹Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

¹²So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

¹³Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

²And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.

³Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

¹AFTER two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

¹⁰¶ And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

¹¹And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

²But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

³⁶And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood:

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways:

²And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

²⁸Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

⁸And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

⁹From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹²¶ So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

³⁸And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.

¹²O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

⁸For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

¹⁴And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

²¹And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

²²Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

¹¹They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

¹²They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

¹³Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me.

¹DELIVER me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;

²Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.

³They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.

⁴Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

⁵The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.

⁶I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.

⁷O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

⁹As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

¹¹They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

¹²Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

¹⁶For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

²²For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.