1 Samuel 30-31
David’s Victory over the Amalekites
Then it happened when David and his men came to aZiklag on the third day, that bthe Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on cZiklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, awithout killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him alifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now aDavid’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because athe people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But bDavid strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 Then aDavid said to bAbiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 aDavid inquired of the Lord, saying, “bShall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, cand you will surely rescue all.” 9 So David went, ahe and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for atwo hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
11 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; athen his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. 14 We made a raid on athe Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on bthe Negev of Caleb, and cwe burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”
16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, aeating and drinking and dancing because of ball the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 David slaughtered them afrom the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on bcamels and fled. 18 So David arecovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. 19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; aDavid brought it all back. 20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “aThis is David’s spoil.”
The Spoils Are Divided
21 When aDavid came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. 24 And who will listen to you in this matter? For aas his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” 25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, aa gift for you from the spoil of bthe enemies of the Lord: 27 to those who were in aBethel, and to those who were in bRamoth of the Negev, and to those who were in cJattir, 28 and to those who were in aAroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in bEshtemoa, 29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of athe Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of bthe Kenites, 30 and to those who were in aHormah, and to those who were in bBor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, 31 and to those who were in aHebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to bgo.”
Saul and His Sons Slain
aNow the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain bon Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed aJonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. 3 aThe battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 aThen Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise bthese uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. cSo Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, ato carry the good news bto the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his weapons in the temple of aAshtaroth, and bthey fastened his body to the wall of cBeth-shan. 11 Now when athe inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 aall the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and bburned them there. 13 They took their bones and aburied them under bthe tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and cfasted seven days.
1 Chronicles 10
Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons
aNow the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, aAbinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. aTherefore Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. 6 aThus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.
7 When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 aSo they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
Jabesh‑gilead’s Tribute to Saul
11 When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 aall the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 aSo Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also bbecause he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and aturned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
Acts 20
Paul in Macedonia and Greece
After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for athe disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left bto go to cMacedonia. 2 When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. 3 And there he spent three months, and when aa plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for bSyria, he decided to return through cMacedonia. 4 And he was accompanied by Sopater of aBerea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by bAristarchus and Secundus of the cThessalonians, and bGaius of dDerbe, and eTimothy, and fTychicus and gTrophimus of hAsia. 5 But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for aus at bTroas. 6 aWe sailed from bPhilippi after cthe days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at dTroas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.
7 On athe first day of the week, when bwe were gathered together to cbreak bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. 8 There were many alamps in the bupper room where we were gathered together. 9 And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and afell upon him, and after embracing him, he bsaid, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” 11 When he had gone back up and had abroken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. 12 They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.
Troas to Miletus
13 But awe, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. 15 Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to aMiletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past aEphesus so that he would not have to spend time in bAsia; for he was hurrying cto be in Jerusalem, if possible, don the day of Pentecost.
Farewell to Ephesus
17 From Miletus he sent to aEphesus and called to him bthe elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them,
“You yourselves know, afrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through athe plots of the Jews; 20 how I adid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly atestifying to both Jews and Greeks of brepentance toward God and cfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, aI am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that athe Holy Spirit solemnly btestifies to me in every city, saying that cbonds and afflictions await me. 24 But aI do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may bfinish my course and cthe ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to dtestify solemnly of the gospel of ethe grace of God.
25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about apreaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26 Therefore, I testify to you this day that aI am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I adid not shrink from declaring to you the whole bpurpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all athe flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd bthe church of God which cHe purchased with His own blood. 29 I know that after my departure asavage wolves will come in among you, not sparing bthe flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away athe disciples after them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of athree years I did not cease to admonish each one bwith tears. 32 And now I acommend you to God and to bthe word of His grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 aI have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that athese hands ministered to my own needs and to the bmen who were with me. 35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 When he had said these things, he aknelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And they began to weep aloud and aembraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, 38 grieving especially over athe word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were baccompanying him to the ship.
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