Phillipians 1:7-12 - John Lloyd

Philippians 1:7–12 (ESV)
Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 
Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 
Philippians 1:9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 
Philippians 1:10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 
Philippians 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 
Philippians 1:12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

Growing Spiritual Redwoods - John Lloyd

This is Part One of  Two Part series on the topic of Christian Growth.

1 Samuel 26 - Jon B

1 Samuel 26 (ESV)
1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 
1 Samuel 26:2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 
1 Samuel 26:3 And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 
1 Samuel 26:4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 
1 Samuel 26:5 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him. 
1 Samuel 26:6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 
1 Samuel 26:7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 
1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 
1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” 
1 Samuel 26:10 And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 
1 Samuel 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 
1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them. 
1 Samuel 26:13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 
1 Samuel 26:14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 
1 Samuel 26:15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 
1 Samuel 26:16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” 
1 Samuel 26:17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 
1 Samuel 26:18 And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 
1 Samuel 26:19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the LORD who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 
1 Samuel 26:20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.” 
1 Samuel 26:21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 
1 Samuel 26:22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 
1 Samuel 26:23 The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the LORD gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. 
1 Samuel 26:24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 
1 Samuel 26:25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 25 - Jon B

1 Samuel 25 (ESV)
1 Samuel 25:1 Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 
1 Samuel 25:2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 
1 Samuel 25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. 
1 Samuel 25:4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 
1 Samuel 25:5 So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 
1 Samuel 25:6 And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 
1 Samuel 25:7 I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. 
1 Samuel 25:8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ” 
1 Samuel 25:9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 
1 Samuel 25:10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 
1 Samuel 25:11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 
1 Samuel 25:12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 
1 Samuel 25:13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. 
1 Samuel 25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 
1 Samuel 25:15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 
1 Samuel 25:16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 
1 Samuel 25:17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” 
1 Samuel 25:18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 
1 Samuel 25:19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 
1 Samuel 25:20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 
1 Samuel 25:21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 
1 Samuel 25:22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” 
1 Samuel 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 
1 Samuel 25:24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 
1 Samuel 25:25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 
1 Samuel 25:26 Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 
1 Samuel 25:27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 
1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 
1 Samuel 25:29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 
1 Samuel 25:30 And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 
1 Samuel 25:31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” 
1 Samuel 25:32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 
1 Samuel 25:33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 
1 Samuel 25:34 For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 
1 Samuel 25:35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.” 
1 Samuel 25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 
1 Samuel 25:37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 
1 Samuel 25:38 And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. 
1 Samuel 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 
1 Samuel 25:40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 
1 Samuel 25:41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 
1 Samuel 25:42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. 
1 Samuel 25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 
1 Samuel 25:44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

1 Samuel 23-24 - Jon B

1 Samuel 23–24 (ESV)
1 Samuel 23:1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 
1 Samuel 23:2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 
1 Samuel 23:3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 
1 Samuel 23:4 Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 
1 Samuel 23:5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 
1 Samuel 23:6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 
1 Samuel 23:7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 
1 Samuel 23:8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 
1 Samuel 23:9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 
1 Samuel 23:10 Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 
1 Samuel 23:11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 
1 Samuel 23:12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” 
1 Samuel 23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 
1 Samuel 23:14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. 
1 Samuel 23:15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 
1 Samuel 23:16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 
1 Samuel 23:17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 
1 Samuel 23:18 And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home. 
1 Samuel 23:19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? 
1 Samuel 23:20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 
1 Samuel 23:21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. 
1 Samuel 23:22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 
1 Samuel 23:23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 
1 Samuel 23:24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 
1 Samuel 23:25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 
1 Samuel 23:26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 
1 Samuel 23:27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 
1 Samuel 23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 
1 Samuel 23:29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. 
1 Samuel 24:1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 
1 Samuel 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 
1 Samuel 24:3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 
1 Samuel 24:4 And the men of David said to him, “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. 
1 Samuel 24:5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 
1 Samuel 24:6 He said to his men, “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 the LORD’s anointed.” 
1 Samuel 24:7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. 
1 Samuel 24:8 Afterward 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. 
1 Samuel 24:9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 
1 Samuel 24:10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 
1 Samuel 24:11 See, 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 there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 
1 Samuel 24:12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 
1 Samuel 24:13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 
1 Samuel 24:14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 
1 Samuel 24:15 May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” 
1 Samuel 24:16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 
1 Samuel 24:17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 
1 Samuel 24:18 And 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. 
1 Samuel 24:19 For 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. 
1 Samuel 24:20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 
1 Samuel 24:21 Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 
1 Samuel 24:22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 21-22 - Jon B

1 Samuel 21–22 (ESV)
1 Samuel 21:1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 
1 Samuel 21:2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 
1 Samuel 21:3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 
1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 
1 Samuel 21:5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 
1 Samuel 21:6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. 
1 Samuel 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. 
1 Samuel 21:8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 
1 Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” 
1 Samuel 21:10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 
1 Samuel 21:11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 
1 Samuel 21:12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 
1 Samuel 21:13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 
1 Samuel 21:14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 
1 Samuel 21:15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” 
1 Samuel 22:1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 
1 Samuel 22:2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. 
1 Samuel 22:3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 
1 Samuel 22:4 And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 
1 Samuel 22:5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. 
1 Samuel 22:6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 
1 Samuel 22:7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 
1 Samuel 22:8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” 
1 Samuel 22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 
1 Samuel 22:10 and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 
1 Samuel 22:11 Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 
1 Samuel 22:12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 
1 Samuel 22:13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 
1 Samuel 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 
1 Samuel 22:15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 
1 Samuel 22:16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 
1 Samuel 22:17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 
1 Samuel 22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 
1 Samuel 22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. 
1 Samuel 22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 
1 Samuel 22:21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 
1 Samuel 22:22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 
1 Samuel 22:23 Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

1 Samuel 20 - Jon B

1 Samuel 20:1–42 (ESV)
1 Samuel 20:1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 
1 Samuel 20:2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 
1 Samuel 20:3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 
1 Samuel 20:4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 
1 Samuel 20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 
1 Samuel 20:6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 
1 Samuel 20:7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 
1 Samuel 20:8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 
1 Samuel 20:9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 
1 Samuel 20:10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 
1 Samuel 20:11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. 
1 Samuel 20:12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 
1 Samuel 20:13 But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 
1 Samuel 20:14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 
1 Samuel 20:15 and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 
1 Samuel 20:16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 
1 Samuel 20:17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 
1 Samuel 20:18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 
1 Samuel 20:19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. 
1 Samuel 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 
1 Samuel 20:21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 
1 Samuel 20:22 But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 
1 Samuel 20:23 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” 
1 Samuel 20:24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 
1 Samuel 20:25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 
1 Samuel 20:26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 
1 Samuel 20:27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 
1 Samuel 20:28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 
1 Samuel 20:29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” 
1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 
1 Samuel 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 
1 Samuel 20:32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 
1 Samuel 20:33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 
1 Samuel 20:34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. 
1 Samuel 20:35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 
1 Samuel 20:36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 
1 Samuel 20:37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 
1 Samuel 20:38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 
1 Samuel 20:39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 
1 Samuel 20:40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 
1 Samuel 20:41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 
1 Samuel 20:42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

1 Samuel 18-19 - Jon B

1 Samuel 18 (ESV)
1 Samuel 18:1 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 
1 Samuel 18:2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 
1 Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 
1 Samuel 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 
1 Samuel 18:5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. 
1 Samuel 18:6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 
1 Samuel 18:7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 
1 Samuel 18:8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 
1 Samuel 18:9 And Saul eyed David from that day on. 
1 Samuel 18:10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 
1 Samuel 18:11 And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice. 
1 Samuel 18:12 Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 
1 Samuel 18:13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 
1 Samuel 18:14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. 
1 Samuel 18:15 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 
1 Samuel 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. 
1 Samuel 18:17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 
1 Samuel 18:18 And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 
1 Samuel 18:19 But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. 
1 Samuel 18:20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 
1 Samuel 18:21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 
1 Samuel 18:22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’ ” 
1 Samuel 18:23 And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 
1 Samuel 18:24 And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” 
1 Samuel 18:25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 
1 Samuel 18:26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 
1 Samuel 18:27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. 
1 Samuel 18:28 But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, 
1 Samuel 18:29 Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually. 
1 Samuel 18:30 Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.
1 Samuel 19 (ESV)
1 Samuel 19:1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. 
1 Samuel 19:2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 
1 Samuel 19:3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 
1 Samuel 19:4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 
1 Samuel 19:5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 
1 Samuel 19:6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 
1 Samuel 19:7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. 
1 Samuel 19:8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 
1 Samuel 19:9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 
1 Samuel 19:10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 
1 Samuel 19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 
1 Samuel 19:12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 
1 Samuel 19:13 Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 
1 Samuel 19:14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 
1 Samuel 19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 
1 Samuel 19:16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. 
1 Samuel 19:17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’ ” 
1 Samuel 19:18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 
1 Samuel 19:19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 
1 Samuel 19:20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 
1 Samuel 19:21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 
1 Samuel 19:22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 
1 Samuel 19:23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 
1 Samuel 19:24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 17:31-58 - Jon B

1 Samuel 17:31–58 (ESV)                                                                                                                         

1 Samuel 17:31–58 (ESV)
1 Samuel 17:31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 
1 Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 
1 Samuel 17:33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 
1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 
1 Samuel 17:35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 
1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 
1 Samuel 17:37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 
1 Samuel 17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 
1 Samuel 17:39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 
1 Samuel 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 
1 Samuel 17:41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 
1 Samuel 17:42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 
1 Samuel 17:43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 
1 Samuel 17:44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 
1 Samuel 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 
1 Samuel 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 
1 Samuel 17:47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 
1 Samuel 17:48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 
1 Samuel 17:49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 
1 Samuel 17:50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 
1 Samuel 17:51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 
1 Samuel 17:52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 
1 Samuel 17:53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 
1 Samuel 17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 
1 Samuel 17:55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 
1 Samuel 17:56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 
1 Samuel 17:57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 
1 Samuel 17:58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

1 Samuel 17:1-30 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 17:1–30

1 Samuel 17:1–30 (ESV)
1 Samuel 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 
1 Samuel 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 
1 Samuel 17:3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 
1 Samuel 17:4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 
1 Samuel 17:5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 
1 Samuel 17:6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 
1 Samuel 17:7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 
1 Samuel 17:8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 
1 Samuel 17:9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 
1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 
1 Samuel 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 
1 Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. 
1 Samuel 17:13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 
1 Samuel 17:14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 
1 Samuel 17:15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 
1 Samuel 17:16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 
1 Samuel 17:17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 
1 Samuel 17:18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 
1 Samuel 17:19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 
1 Samuel 17:20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 
1 Samuel 17:21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 
1 Samuel 17:22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 
1 Samuel 17:23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 
1 Samuel 17:24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 
1 Samuel 17:25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 
1 Samuel 17:26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 
1 Samuel 17:27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 
1 Samuel 17:28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 
1 Samuel 17:29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 
1 Samuel 17:30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

1 Samuel 16 - Jon B

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The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”
4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
15 And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.
16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

1 Samuel 15 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 15 (ESV)

1 Samuel 15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. 
1 Samuel 15:2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” 
1 Samuel 15:4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 
1 Samuel 15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 
1 Samuel 15:6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 
1 Samuel 15:7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 
1 Samuel 15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 
1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. 
1 Samuel 15:10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 
1 Samuel 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. 
1 Samuel 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 
1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 
1 Samuel 15:14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 
1 Samuel 15:15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 
1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” 
1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 
1 Samuel 15:18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 
1 Samuel 15:19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” 
1 Samuel 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 
1 Samuel 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” 
1 Samuel 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 
1 Samuel 15:25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.” 
1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 
1 Samuel 15:27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 
1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 
1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 
1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” 
1 Samuel 15:31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD. 
1 Samuel 15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 
1 Samuel 15:33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 
1 Samuel 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 
1 Samuel 15:35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15: 1-3 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 15:1–3 (ESV)

1 Samuel 15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord.
1 Samuel 15:2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

1 Samuel 14:24-52 - Jon B

1 Samuel 14:24–52 (ESV)

1 Samuel 14:24 And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.                                                                                  1 Samuel 14:25 Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground.                                                                                                                                                   1 Samuel 14:26 And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.                                                           1 Samuel 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.                                                                                                1 Samuel 14:28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’ ” And the people were faint.                               1 Samuel 14:29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey.                                                                             1 Samuel 14:30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”                               1 Samuel 14:31 They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint.                                                                                                                           1 Samuel 14:32 The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood.                                      1 Samuel 14:33 Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.”            1 Samuel 14:34 And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood.’ ” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there.                                                                                                                 1 Samuel 14:35 And Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.     1 Samuel 14:36 Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”                                                               1 Samuel 14:37 And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.                                                               1 Samuel 14:38 And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today.                                                                                                                           1 Samuel 14:39 For as the Lord lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.                                1 Samuel 14:40 Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”                          1 Samuel 14:41 Therefore Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped.                                                                                                                                     1 Samuel 14:42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.                                                                                                                                                1 Samuel 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”                 1 Samuel 14:44 And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.”      1 Samuel 14:45 Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die.                                                                                                                                                    1 Samuel 14:46 Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.                                                                                                                                               1 Samuel 14:47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.                                                                1 Samuel 14:48 And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.                                                                                                    1 Samuel 14:49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.                                                                                                                                                     1 Samuel 14:50 And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.                                              1 Samuel 14:51 Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.          1 Samuel 14:52 There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.

1 Samuel 14:1-23- Jon B

1 Samuel 14:1–23 (ESV                                                                                                                            

 1 Samuel 14:1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.         
 

1 Samuel 14:2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men,                                                                              

1 Samuel 14:3 including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.                                                                                                                                                                

1 Samuel 14:4 Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.                                                                                                      

1 Samuel 14:5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.                                                                                                                                                      

1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”                                                                                                            

1 Samuel 14:7 And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”                                                                                                                          

1 Samuel 14:8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.                                                                                                                                                                

1 Samuel 14:9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.                                                                                                                                

1 Samuel 14:10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”                                                                                                    

1 Samuel 14:11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”     

1 Samuel 14:12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”                                                                                    

1 Samuel 14:13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.                                                      

1 Samuel 14:14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.                                                                    

1 Samuel 14:15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.                

1 Samuel 14:16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there.                                                                                                                          

1 Samuel 14:17 Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.                    

1 Samuel 14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel.                                                                                                                            

1 Samuel 14:19 Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”                                            

1 Samuel 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.                    

1 Samuel 14:21 Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.                                                                                                                                                      

1 Samuel 14:22 Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle.          

1 Samuel 14:23 So the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven.

1 Samuel 13 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 13 (ESV)
1 Samuel 13:1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 
1 Samuel 13:2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 
1 Samuel 13:3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 
1 Samuel 13:4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. 
1 Samuel 13:5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 
1 Samuel 13:6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 
1 Samuel 13:7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 
1 Samuel 13:8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 
1 Samuel 13:9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 
1 Samuel 13:10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 
1 Samuel 13:11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 
1 Samuel 13:12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 
1 Samuel 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 
1 Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 
1 Samuel 13:15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 
1 Samuel 13:16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 
1 Samuel 13:17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 
1 Samuel 13:18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 
1 Samuel 13:19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 
1 Samuel 13:20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 
1 Samuel 13:21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 
1 Samuel 13:22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 
1 Samuel 13:23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

1 Samuel 12 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 12 (ESV)
1 Samuel 12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 
1 Samuel 12:2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 
1 Samuel 12:3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 
1 Samuel 12:4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 
1 Samuel 12:5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” 
1 Samuel 12:6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 
1 Samuel 12:7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 
1 Samuel 12:8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 
1 Samuel 12:9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 
1 Samuel 12:10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 
1 Samuel 12:11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 
1 Samuel 12:12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. 
1 Samuel 12:13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 
1 Samuel 12:14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 
1 Samuel 12:15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. 
1 Samuel 12:16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 
1 Samuel 12:17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 
1 Samuel 12:18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 
1 Samuel 12:19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 
1 Samuel 12:20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 
1 Samuel 12:21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 
1 Samuel 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 
1 Samuel 12:23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 
1 Samuel 12:24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 
1 Samuel 12:25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

1 Samuel 10:17-11:15 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 10:17–11:15 (ESV)
1 Samuel 10:17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. 
1 Samuel 10:18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 
1 Samuel 10:19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.” 
1 Samuel 10:20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 
1 Samuel 10:21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 
1 Samuel 10:22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 
1 Samuel 10:23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 
1 Samuel 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” 
1 Samuel 10:25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 
1 Samuel 10:26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 
1 Samuel 10:27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. 
1 Samuel 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 
1 Samuel 11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.” 
1 Samuel 11:3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 
1 Samuel 11:4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud. 
1 Samuel 11:5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 
1 Samuel 11:6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 
1 Samuel 11:7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. 
1 Samuel 11:8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 
1 Samuel 11:9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’ ” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 
1 Samuel 11:10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 
1 Samuel 11:11 And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 
1 Samuel 11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 
1 Samuel 11:13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 
1 Samuel 11:14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 
1 Samuel 11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

1 Samuel 9:1-10:16

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1 Samuel 9:1–10:16 (ESV)
1 Samuel 9:1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. 
1 Samuel 9:3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” 
1 Samuel 9:4 And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. 
1 Samuel 9:5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” 
1 Samuel 9:6 But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 
1 Samuel 9:7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 
1 Samuel 9:8 The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 
1 Samuel 9:9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) 
1 Samuel 9:10 And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. 
1 Samuel 9:11 As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 
1 Samuel 9:12 They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. 
1 Samuel 9:13 As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” 
1 Samuel 9:14 So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place. 
1 Samuel 9:15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: 
1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” 
1 Samuel 9:17 When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” 
1 Samuel 9:18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” 
1 Samuel 9:19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 
1 Samuel 9:20 As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” 
1 Samuel 9:21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” 
1 Samuel 9:22 Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. 
1 Samuel 9:23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’ ” 
1 Samuel 9:24 So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 
1 Samuel 9:25 And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. 
1 Samuel 9:26 Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. 
1 Samuel 9:27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” 
1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 
1 Samuel 10:2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ 
1 Samuel 10:3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 
1 Samuel 10:4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 
1 Samuel 10:5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 
1 Samuel 10:6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 
1 Samuel 10:7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 
1 Samuel 10:8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” 
1 Samuel 10:9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 
1 Samuel 10:10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 
1 Samuel 10:11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 
1 Samuel 10:12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 
1 Samuel 10:13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. 
1 Samuel 10:14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 
1 Samuel 10:15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 
1 Samuel 10:16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

1 Samuel 7:3-8:22 - Jon B

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1 Samuel 7:3–8:22 (ESV)
1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 
1 Samuel 7:4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only. 
1 Samuel 7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” 
1 Samuel 7:6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 
1 Samuel 7:7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 
1 Samuel 7:8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 
1 Samuel 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 
1 Samuel 7:10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 
1 Samuel 7:11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car. 
1 Samuel 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” 
1 Samuel 7:13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 
1 Samuel 7:14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. 
1 Samuel 7:15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 
1 Samuel 7:16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 
1 Samuel 7:17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD. 
1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 
1 Samuel 8:2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 
1 Samuel 8:3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 
1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
1 Samuel 8:5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 
1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 
1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 
1 Samuel 8:8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 
1 Samuel 8:9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” 
1 Samuel 8:10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. 
1 Samuel 8:11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 
1 Samuel 8:12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 
1 Samuel 8:13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 
1 Samuel 8:14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 
1 Samuel 8:15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 
1 Samuel 8:16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 
1 Samuel 8:17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 
1 Samuel 8:18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 
1 Samuel 8:19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 
1 Samuel 8:20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 
1 Samuel 8:21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 
1 Samuel 8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”