1 Samuel 24:9–12

²¹Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:

²²For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

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

¹⁹Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods.

⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

¹⁶¶ Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.

²⁸A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

⁴A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.

⁸The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

²³The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

²⁰Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.

²¹As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

²²The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

²⁸A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

⁵Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

⁶When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

⁴And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.

¹⁵Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

⁸Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

⁹And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?

²⁰Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

¹⁴And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.

¹⁸And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?

¹³And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

²⁷Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

¹⁸And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

¹⁶For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

¹⁸They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

²The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

¹A SOFT answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

¹¹Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

⁷For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

³O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

⁴If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)

²⁷Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the Lord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

¹JUDGE me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

¹PLEAD my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

⁵And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

²³Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

⁸I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

¹O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

¹⁹Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

⁸The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

¹⁰David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

¹¹The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

²³The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed.

⁵³The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?