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The 25th Chapter
And then Samuel died, and all
Israel gathered together and lamented him, and buried him in his own
house at Ramath.
And David arose and gat him to the wilderness of Pharan. And
there was a man in Maon whose cattle was in Carmel, and the man was
exceeding mighty, and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats.
And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. The name of the man was
Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail, and was a woman of good
wisdom and beautiful. But the man was churlish and of shrewd
conditions and was a Calebite. And when David heard in the
wilderness, that Nabal share his sheep, he sent out ten of his young
men, and said unto them: get you up to Carmel and go to Nabal and
greet him in my name. And thus wise say unto my friend: peace be to
thee, peace be to thine house and peace be unto all that thou hast.
I have heard say that thou hast shearers. Now the shepherds were
with us, and we did them no spite, neither was there ought missing
unto them, all the while they were in Carmel: ask thy lads, and they
will show thee. Wherefore let these young men find favour in thine
eyes (for we come in a good season) and give I pray thee whatsoever
cometh to thine hand unto thy servants and to thine son David.
And Davids young men came and told Nabal all those words in
the name of David and then stopped. And Nabal answered Davids
servants and said: What is David? and what is the son of Isai? there
is plenty of servants now a days, that break away every man from his
master. I should take my bread, my water and my flesh that I have
killed for my shearers, and give it men which I know not *whence
they be?
And Davids servants turned their way and went again, and came
and told him according to all those sayings. Then David said unto
his men: gird every man his sword about him. And they girded every
man his sword on, and David thereto girded on his sword. And there
followed David upon a four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the
stuff.
But one of the lads told Abigail Nabals wife saying: see David
sent messengers unto our master out of the wilderness to salute him,
and he railed on them. And yet the men were very good unto us and
did us no displeasure, neither missed we anything, as long as were
conversant with them, when we were in the fields. But they were a
wall of defense unto us both by night and also by day, all the while
we were with them keeping sheep. Now take heed and see what thou
hast to do, for it is concluded to do mischief unto our master and
to all his household. And he is ungracious to speak to. Then Abigail
made haste and took two hundred loaves and two bottles of wine and
five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched corn, and a
hundred bundles of raisins and two hundred *frails of figs, and
laded them on asses, and said unto her young men: go before me, and
see I come after you, and told her husband Nabal nothing thereof.
And as she rode on her ass and was coming down in a *slade of the
hill, David and his men came down against her, and she met them.
And David said: in vain have I kept all that this fellow had
in the wilderness: so that nought was missed that pertained unto
him, for he hath quit me with evil for good. So and so do God unto
the enemies of David, as I will not leave of all that pertain to
him, by the dawning of the day, ought that *pisseth against the
wall.
When Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off her ass and
fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and
fell at his feet and said: Let this unhappy deed be counted mine, my
Lord, and let thine handmaid speak in thine audience, and hear the
words of thy handmaid. Let not my Lord regard this unthrifty man
Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is
with him. But I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my Lord
which thou sendest.
And now my Lord as sure as the Lord liveth and as thy soul
liveth, the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood and
from avenging thyself with thine own hand. Furthermore I pray God
that thine enemies and they that intend to do my Lord evil, may be
as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought,
let it be given unto the young men that follow my Lord.
Forgive the trespass of thine handmaid that the Lord may make
my Lord a sure house, because my Lord fighteth the battles of the
Lord, and there could none evil be found in thee in all thy life.
And if any man rise to persecute thee and to seek thy soul, the soul
of my Lord be bound in a bundle of life with the Lord thy God. And
the souls of thy enemies be slung in the middle of a sling. And
moreover when the Lord shall have done to my Lord all the good that
he hath promised thee, and shall have made thee ruler over Israel:
then shall it be no grudge of conscience unto thee or discourage of
heart unto my Lord, that thou sheddest blood causeless and didst
avenge thyself.
And moreover when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord,
then think on thine handmaid. Then said David to Abigail: blessed be
the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me. And
blessed be thy behavior, and blessed be thou which hath kept me this
day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own
hand. For in very deed as sure as the Lord God of Israel liveth
which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted
and met me, there had not been left Nabal by the dawning of the day,
a pisser against the wall. And so David received of her hand that
she brought him, and said to her: go in peace to thine house. And
see I have obeyed thy voice and have received thee to grace.
And when Abigail came to Nabal: behold, he held a feast in his
house like the feast of a King, and Nabals heart was merry within
him, and he was drunk a good. Wherefore she told him nought neither
little nor more, until the morrow day. But in the morning, when the
wine was gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words, and his
heart died within him, and he became as a stone, and upon a ten days
after the Lord smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that
Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord that hath judged the
cause of my rebuke of the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant
from evil, and hath turned the wickedness of Nabal again upon his
own head. And David sent to commune with Abigail, to the intent to
take her to his wife. And when the servants of David were come to
Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her saying: David sent us unto
thee, to take thee to his wife. And she arose and bowed herself on
her face to the earth, and said: Behold thy handmaid, to be a
servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. And Abigail
hasted and arose and gat her up upon an Ass, with five damsels of
hers that went at her feet, and went after the messengers of David
and was his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezrahel, and they were
both his wives. But Saul gave Michol his daughter Davids wife to
Phalti the son of Lais of Gallin.
*whence (from where) *frails (reed baskets) *slade (side of, valley)
*pisseth against the wall. *(meaning anything male)
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The 26th Chapter
After that came the Ziphites
unto Saul to Gabaah saying: David hideth himself in the hill of
Hachilah even before the wilderness. Then Saul arose and went to the
wilderness of Ziph and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him,
for to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul pitched in the
hill of Hachilah which lieth before the wilderness, by the ways
side. But David dwelt in the wilderness. And when he saw that Saul
came after him into the wilderness, he sent out spies and understood
that Saul was come of surety.
Wherefore David arose and went to the place where Saul had
pitched, and beheld the place where Saul lay with Abner the son of
Ner his chief captain. For Saul lay within a round bank and the
people pitched round about him. Then answered David and spake to
Ahimelech the Hethite and to Abisai the son of Zaruiah and brother
to Joab saying: who will go down with me to Saul to the host? Abisai
said: I will go down with thee.
And so David and Abisai came to the people by night. And
behold, Saul lay sleeping within a round bank and his spear pitched
in the ground at his head, Abner and the people lying round about
him. The said Abisai to David: God hath closed in thine enemy unto
thine hand this day. Now therefore let me smite him a fellowship
with my spear to the earth, even one stroke, and I will not smite
him the second time. But David said to Abisai: destroy him not, for
who can lay his hand on the Lords anointed and be guiltless? And
David said furthermore: as sure as the Lord liveth, the Lord shall
smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into
battle and there perish: but the Lord keep me from laying mine hand
upon the Lords anointed. Now then take a fellowship the spear that
is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go. And David
took the spear and the cruse of water that were at Sauls head, and
they gat them away, and no man saw or knew it or awoke. For they
were all asleep. Because the Lord had sent a slumber upon them. Then
David went over to the other side and stood on the top of an hill
afar off (a great space being between them) and cried to the people
and to Abner the son of Ner saying: Answerest thou not Abner? and
Abner answered and said: What art thou that criest to the king? and
David said to Abner: art not thou a man, and who is like thee in
Israel? But wherefore hast thou not kept thy Lord the king? For
there came one of the folk to destroy the king thy Lord. It is not
good that thou hast done. As truly as the Lord liveth ye are worthy
to die, because ye have no better kept the Lords anointed. And now
see where the kings spear is and the cruse of water that were at his
head.
Then Saul knew Davids voice and said: is this thy voice my son
David? and David said: it is my voice my Lord king. And he said
thereto wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant? for what have
I done? or what evil is in mine hand? Now hear therefore (my Lord
king) the words of thy servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up
against me, he shall smell the savour of sacrifice. But and if they
be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord. For they
have cast me out from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord,
saying: hence and go serve other Gods. And yet I hope my blood shall
not fall to the earth before the face of the Lord, though the King
of Israel be come out to hunt a flea, as men hunt the partridges in
the mountains. Then said Saul: I have sinned, come again my son
David for I will do thee no more harm, because my soul was precious
in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have
erred exceeding much. And David answered and said: Behold the Kings
spear, let one of the young men come over and fetch it. The Lord
reward every mans righteousness and faith: for the Lord delivered
thee into my hand this day, but I would not lay my hand upon the
Lords anointed. And as thy life was much set by this time in mine
eyes: so be my life set by in the eyes of the Lord, that he deliver
me out of all tribulation. And Saul said to David: Blessed art thou
my son David: for thou shalt be a doer and also able to bring to an
end. And so David went his way, and Saul turned to his place again.
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The 27th Chapter
Then thought David in his heart:
I may perish one day or other by the hands of Israel. There is no
better for me, than to flee into the land of the Philistines, that
Saul of very despair to find me, may cease to seek me any more in
all the coasts of Israel: for so I may escape his hand. And David
arose and he and the six hundred men that were with him went unto
Achis, the son of Maoch, King of Geth. And David dwelt with Achis at
Geth, both he and his men, every man with his household, and David
with his two wives: Ahinoam the Jezrahelite and Abigail Nabals wife
of Carmel. And when it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, he
sought no more for him. And David said unto Achis: If I have found
grace in thine eyes, let me have a place in some town in the fields,
that I may dwell there. For what should thy servant dwell in the
head city of the kingdom with thee. Then Achis gave him Zikeleg the
same day for which cause Zikeleg pertaineth unto the kings of Juda
unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the
Philistines, was a year and four months. And David and his men went
and ran upon the Gesurites, the Gersites and the Amalekites: which
nations were from the beginning the inhabiters of the land, as men
go to Sur, and so forth to Egypt. And David smote the land and left
neither man nor woman alive, and took the sheep, the oxen, the
asses, camels, and clothes, and removed and came to Achis. And Achis
said: have ye not been a roving this day? And David answered: yes in
the south of Juda, and in the south of the Jezrahelites, and in the
south of the Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive to
bring to Geth, for fear lest they should tell on them saying: so did
David and so is his manner all the while he dwelt in the country of
the Philistines. And Achis believed David saying: he hath made him
self to stink unto his people Israel, and thereto he shall be my
servant for ever.
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The 28th Chapter
And it chanced in those days,
that the Philistines gathered their host together to war, intending
to fight with Israel. And Achis said to David: Be sure, thou shalt
go out with me in the host, and thy men also. And David said again
to Achis: then thou shalt know, what thy servant can do. And Achis
said to David: then I will make thee keeper of my head for ever.
Samuel was then dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him
in Ramath his own city. And Saul had put the women that had spirits
of prophecy and the Sorcerers out of the land. And the Philistines
gathered together and came and pitched in Sunam. And Saul and all
Israel gathered together and pitched in Gelboe. And when Saul saw
the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart was sore
astonied. And Saul asked counsel of the Lord: But the Lord answered
him not, neither by dream not by *Urim, nor yet by prophets.
Then said Saul unto his servants: seek me a woman that is
mistress of a spirit of prophecy that I may go to her and ask of
her. And his servants said to him: see, there is a wife that hath a
spirit of Prophecy in her possession at Endor. And Saul changed his
clothes and put on other raiment, and then went he and two men with
him, and they came to the wife by night. And he said: prophesy unto
me by the spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee.
And the wife said unto him: Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath
done, how he hath destroyed the women that had prophesying spirits,
and the Sorcerers out of the land. Wherefore then layest thou a net
for my soul to kill me? And Saul swore to her by the Lord saying: As
surely as the Lord liveth, there shall no harm chance thee for this
thing. Then said the wife: whom shall I fetch up unto thee? and he
said: Bring me up Samuel. When the woman saw Samuel she cried with a
loud voice and spake to Saul saying: why hast thou mocked me? for
thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, be not afraid. But what
seest thou. And the wife said unto Saul: I see a God ascending up
out of the earth. And he said: what fashion is he of? And the woman
said: there cometh up an old man with a mantle upon him. And Saul
perceived that it was Samuel, and stooped with his face to the
ground and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul: why hast thou
unquieted me, to make me be brought up? And Saul answered: I am sore
encumbered. For the Philistines make war against me, and God is
departed from me and answered me no more, neither by prophets,
neither by dreams. And therefore have I called thee, to tell me what
I shall do. Then said Samuel: wherefore dost thou ask of me? while
the Lord is gone from thee and is thine enemy, the Lord will do to
thee as he said by my hand. For the Lord will rent the kingdom out
of thine hand, and give it thy neighbour David, because thou
obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath
upon the Amalekites. Therefore hath the Lord done this unto thee
this day. And moreover the Lord will deliver Israel with thee, into
the hands of the Philistines. And tomorrow shall thou and thy sons
be with me, and the Lord shall give the host of Israel into the
hands of the Philistines. Then Saul fell straightway flat on the
earth as long as he was, and was sore a dread of the words of
Samuel.
And thereto there was no strength in him, for he had not eaten
all the day and the night before. And the woman came unto Saul and
saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him: See, thine
handmaid hath obeyed thy voice and have put my soul in thy hand, and
have hearkened unto thy words which thou saidst unto me. Now
therefore hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and
let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat, and get the
strength to go thy journey. But he refused it and said: I will not
eat. But his servants and the wife together compelled him, that he
heard their voice. And so he arose from the earth and sat him on a
bed. The woman had a fat calf in the house, and that she hasted and
killed it, and took flour and kneaded it and did bake him sweet
cakes, and brought them before Saul and before his servants. And
when they had eaten, they stood up, and went away the same night.
*Urim: from the Hebrew; light.
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The 29th Chapter
The Philistines gathered all
their hosts together unto Aphec: And Israel pitched by a fountain in
Jezrahel. And the Lords of the Philistines went forth by hundreds
and by thousands. But David and his men came behind with Achis. Then
said the Lords of the Philistines: what are yonder Hebrews? And
Achis said unto the Lords of the Philistines: Is not this David the
servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me days or
years, and I have found no fault in him since he fled unto me unto
this day. Nevertheless the Lords of the Philistines were wroth with
him and said unto him: Make this fellow return, and let him go again
to his place which thou hast appointed him. For he shall not go with
us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us in the battle. For
wherewith could he better obtain the favour of his master, than upon
the heads of our men. Is not this David to whom they sang in dances:
Saul slew his thousand, but David his ten thousand? Then Achis
called David and said unto him: As sure as the Lord liveth thou art
honest, and it pleaseth me well that thou shouldest accompany me in
the host, for I have found none evil with thee since thou camest to
me unto this day: Nevertheless the Lords of the Philistines favour
thee not: wherefore return and go in peace, that thou displease not
the Lords of the Philistines. And David said again to Achis: Why
what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant as long as
I have been with thee unto this day? that I may not go fight against
the enemies of my Lord the king?
Achis answered and said to David: I know well thou pleasest
me, as it were an Angel of God. Notwithstanding the Lords of the
Philistines have said, that thou shalt not go with them to battle.
Wherefore rise up early in the morning with thy masters servants
that are come with thee. And when ye be up early as soon as ye have
light, depart. And so David and his men rose early to depart in the
morning, and to return into the land of the Philistines. And the
Philistines went up to Jezrahel.
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The 30th Chapter
But before David and his men
were come to Zikeleg the third day, the Amalekites had run in a
running upon the south and upon Zikeleg, and had smitten Zikeleg and
burnt it with fire, and had taken the women that were therein
prisoners, both small and great: but slew not a man, save carried
them with them and went their ways. When David and his men came to
the city: behold, it was burnt with fire, and their wives, their
sons and their daughters were taken prisoners. Then David and the
people that was with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they
could weep no more. And Davids two wives were taken prisoners also:
Ahinoam the Jezrahelite and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
And David was in a shrewd strait: for the people intended to stone
him because the hearts of the people were vexed for their sons and
their daughters.
But David took a good courage to him in the Lord his God and
said to Abiathar the priest Ahimelechs son: bring me the Ephod. And
Abiathar brought the Ephod to David. And David asked the Lord
saying: shall I follow after this company? and shall I overtake
them? And he said to him: follow, for thou shalt overtake them and
recover the prey.
And he went and the six hundred men that were with him, and
they came to the river Besor, where a part of them abode. But David
and four hundred men followed: But two hundred abode behind being
too weary to go over the river Besor. Then they found an Egyptian in
the field, and brought him to David and gave him bread to eat and
water to drink, and gave him a few figs and two clusters of raisins.
And when he had eaten his spirits came again to him: for he had
eaten no bread nor drunk no water in three days and three nights.
Then David said unto him: to whom belongest thou and *whence art
thou? and the lad answered: I am an Egyptian and servant to an
Amalekite: and my master left me behind, because it is three days a
gone that I fell sick: we came a roving upon the south of Cerethis,
and upon them of Juda and on the south of Caleb. And we burnt
Zikeleg with fire. And David said to him: canst thou bring me to
this company? And he said: swear unto me by God, that thou wilt
neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I
will bring thee unto them. And when he had brought him: see, they
lay scattered abroad upon the earth, eating and drinking and
triumphing over all the great prey that they had carried away out of
the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.
And David laid upon them from the twilight until the evening
on the morrow: so that there escaped not a man, save four hundred
young men which rode away upon camels and fled. And David recovered
all the Amalekites had carried away, and his two wives: so that
there was no person lacking small or great, son or daughter, or of
the spoil of all that they had taken away, David brought all again.
And David took all the sheep, and the oxen. And they drave the
cattle before, and said: this is Davids prey. And then David came to
the two hundred men that were too weary for to follow David which
they made to abide at the river Besor. And they came to meet David
and the people that were with him. And when David came to the
people, he saluted them. Then answered all the wicked and the
unthrifts of the men that went with David, and said: because they
went not with us, therefore shall none of the prey that we have
recovered, be given unto them, save to every man his wife and his
children: which let them carry away and be walking.
Then said David: ye shall not do so (my brethren) with that
the Lord hath given us, and hath preserved us, and delivered the
company that came against us, into our hands. For who should hearken
unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth and fighteth,
so good shall his part be, that tarrieth by the stuff, they shall
part it alike. And so from that day forward was that made a law and
a custom in Israel, and endureth to this day. When David came to
Zikeleg, he sent of his prey unto the elders of Juda and to his
friends saying: see there a blessing for you, of the spoil of the
enemies of the Lord. He sent to them of Bethel: to them of south
Ramath: to them of Gether: to them of Aroer: to them of Sephamoth:
to them of Esthamo: to them of Rachal: to them of the cities of the
Jerhameelites: to them of the cities of the Kenites: to them of
Haramah: to them of Borasan: to them of Athach: to them of Hebron,
and to all places where David and his men were wont to haunt.
*whence (from where)
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The 31st Chapter
And as the
Philistines fought against Israel, the men of Israel fled away from
the Philistines, and fell down dead in mount Gelboe. And the
Philistines followed after Saul and his sons, and slew Jonathas,
Abinadab and Melchisua Sauls sons. And the battle went sore against
Saul, in so much that shooters with bows had found him, and he was
sore wounded of the shooters. Then said Saul unto his harness
bearer: draw out thy sword and thrust me through therewith lest
these uncircumcised come thrust me through and make a mocking stock
of me. But his harness bearer would not, for he was sore afraid.
Wherefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it. And when his harness
bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and
died with him. And so Saul died and his three sons and his harness
bearer, and thereto all his men, that same day together.
When the men of Israel that were of the other side of the
valley, and they of the other side Jordan, heard that the men of
Israel were put to flight, and that Saul and his sons were dead,
they left the cities, and ran away, and the Philistines came and
dwelt in them. On the morrow when the Philistines were come to strip
them that were slain, they found Saul and his sons lying in mount
Gelboe. And they cut off his head and stripped him out of his
harness, and sent unto the land of the Philistines everywhere, to
publish in the houses of their Gods and to the people. And they
hanged up his harness in the house of Astharoth, but they hanged up
his carcase on the walls of Bethsan. When the inhabiters of Jabes in
Galaad heard thereof what the Philistines had done to Saul, they
arose as many as were men of war and went all night and took the
carcase of Saul and the carcases of his sons from the walls of
Bethsan and brought them to Jabes and burnt them there and took
their bones and buried them under a Tree at Jabes, and fasted seven
days. |
Chapters 1-7
| 8-13
| 14-17
| 18-24
| 25-end
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