David Spares Saul's Life

¹1 yWhen Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ²Then Saul took zthree thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. ³And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in ato relieve himself.2 Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts bof the cave. ⁴And the men of David said to him, c“Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. ⁵And afterward dDavid's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. ⁶He said to his men, e“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is fthe Lord's anointed.” ⁷So David persuaded his men with these words gand did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

⁸Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. ⁹And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? ¹⁰Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. hAnd some told me to kill you, but I spared you.3 I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, ffor he is the Lord's anointed.’ ¹¹See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that ithere is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though jyou hunt my life to take it. ¹²kMay the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? lAfter a dead dog! mAfter a flea! ¹⁵kMay the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and nplead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

¹⁶As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, o“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, pfor you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. ¹⁸And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. ¹⁹For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰And now, behold, qI know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ²¹rSwear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and sthat you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” ²²And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up tto the stronghold.

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

¹It is actually reported that there is wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, xfor a man has his father's wife. ²And yyou are arrogant! Ought you znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³For though aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴When you are assembled bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵you are cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so dthat his spirit may be saved ein the day of the Lord.1

⁶fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, hnot with the old leaven, ithe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰knot at all meaning lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, msince then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone nwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹²For what have I to do with judging ooutsiders? pIs it not those inside the church2 whom you are to judge? ¹³God judges3 those outside. q“Purge the evil person from among you.”

¹And he said to me, c“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. tEat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” uThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth vas sweet as honey.

⁴And he said to me, w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. xSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ⁷yBut the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel zhave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ⁸aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹Like bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, dall my words that I shall speak to you receive ein your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹And go to the exiles, fto your people, and speak to them and say to them, g‘Thus says the Lord God,’ hwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”

¹²iThen the Spirit1 lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice2 of ja great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” ¹³It was the sound of the wings of kthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of la great earthquake. ¹⁴mThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the nhand of the Lord being strong upon me. ¹⁵oAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling oby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.3 And pI sat there qoverwhelmed among them rseven days.

A Watchman for Israel

¹⁶sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷t“Son of man, uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall vgive them warning from me. ¹⁸wIf I say to the wicked, x‘You shall surely die,’ vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person yshall die for4 his iniquity, zbut his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, bbut you cwill have delivered your soul. ²⁰dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, zbut his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

²²fAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into gthe valley,5 and hthere I will speak with you.” ²³So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ithe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen jby the Chebar canal, iand I fell on my face. ²⁴kBut the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵And you, O son of man, behold, lcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that myou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, nfor they are a rebellious house. ²⁷oBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, p‘Thus says the Lord God.’ qHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will wguard my ways,

that I xmay not sin with my tongue;

I will yguard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was zmute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

³My aheart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“O Lord, bmake me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

⁵Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

⁶Surely a man egoes about as a shadow!

Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;

man fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

⁷“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

gMy hope is in you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.

hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!

⁹iI am mute; I do not open my mouth,

jfor it is you who have done it.

¹⁰kRemove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

¹¹When you discipline a man

with lrebukes for sin,

you mconsume like a nmoth what is dear to him;

osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

¹²p“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am qa sojourner with you,

qa guest, like all my fathers.

¹³rLook away from me, that I may smile again,

sbefore I depart and tam no more!”