1 Samuel 27 - 29, James 1-2:13, Proverbs 22

David Escapes to the Philistines

27Then David said in his heart, “Now I will be swept away one day by the hand of Saul. ^aThere is nothing better for me than that I should utterly escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” ²So David arose and crossed over, he and ^athe six hundred men who were with him, to ^bAchish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, ^aeach with his household, even David with ^bhis two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. ⁴And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore ^aZiklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷And the number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was ^aa year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided ^athe Geshurites and the Girzites and ^bthe Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to ^cShur even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹And David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he ^atook away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰And Achish said, “Where have you ^amade a raid today?” And David said, “Against the ¹Negev of Judah and against the ²Negev of ^bthe Jerahmeelites and against the ³Negev of ^cthe Kenites.” ¹¹And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, “Lest they tell about us, saying, ‘So has David done and so has been his custom all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’” ¹²So Achish believed David, saying, “He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”

Saul and the Woman of En-dor

28Now it happened in those days that ^athe Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” ²And David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you ¹my bodyguard ^afor life.”

³Now ^aSamuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him ^bin Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who ^cwere mediums and spiritists. ⁴So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped ^ain Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they camped in ^bGilboa. ⁵Saul saw the camp of the Philistines and was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶^aSo Saul asked of Yahweh, but ^bYahweh did not answer him, either by ^cdreams or by ^dUrim or by prophets. ⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, ^athere is a woman who is a medium at ^bEn-dor.”

⁸Then Saul ^adisguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, “^bDivine for me, please, and ^cbring up for me whom I shall say to you.” ⁹But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know ^awhat Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” ¹⁰Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹²And the woman saw Samuel and cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.” ¹³And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a ¹divine being coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴And he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and ^ahe is wrapped with a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and ^bhe bowed with his ¹face to the ground and prostrated himself.

¹⁵Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines are waging war against me, and ^aGod has turned away from me and ^bno longer answers me, either by the hand of the prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.” ¹⁶And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your adversary? ¹⁷“So Yahweh has done ¹accordingly ^aas He spoke by my hand, for Yahweh has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸“As ^ayou did not listen to the voice of Yahweh and did not execute His burning anger on Amalek, so Yahweh has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹“Moreover Yahweh will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow ^ayou and your sons will be with me. Indeed Yahweh will give over the camp of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!”

²⁰Then Saul quickly fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no ¹food all day and all night. ²¹And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Behold, your servant-woman has listened to your voice, and ^aI have ¹taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. ²²“So now also, please listen to the voice of your servant-woman, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way.” ²³But he refused and said, “^aI will not eat.” ^bHowever, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to ¹them. So he arose from the ground and sat on ^cthe bed. ²⁴And the woman had a ^afattened calf in the house, and she quickly sacrificed it; and she ^btook flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. ²⁵And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

Achish Makes David Leave the Battle

29Then ^athe Philistines gathered together all their camps to ^bAphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in ^cJezreel. ²And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and ^aDavid and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish. ³Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, ^awho has been with me these days, or rather these years, and ^bI have found no fault in him from the day he ¹deserted to me to this day?” ⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, that he may return ^ato his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, ^bor in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of ¹these men? ⁵“Is this not David, ^aof whom they sing in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands,And David his ten thousands’?”

⁶Then Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and ^ayour going out and your coming in with me in the camp are pleasing in my sight; ^bfor I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. ⁷“So now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.” ⁸And David said to Achish, “^aBut what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹But Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, ^alike an angel of God; nevertheless ^bthe commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’ ¹⁰“So now, arise early in the morning ^awith the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, go.” ¹¹So David arose early, he and his men, to go in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

Testing Your Faith

1¹^,^aJames, a ^bslave of God and ^cof the Lord Jesus Christ, To ^dthe twelve tribes who are in the ^eDispersion: ^fGreetings.

²^aConsider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter ^bvarious ¹trials, ³knowing that ^athe testing of your ^bfaith brings about ^cperseverance. ⁴And let ^aperseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be ¹^,^bperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you ^alacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ¹without reproach, and ^bit will be given to him. ⁶But he must ^aask in faith, ^bdoubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^cdriven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸being a ¹^,^adouble-minded man, ^bunstable in all his ways.

⁹^aBut the ¹brother of humble circumstances is to boast in his high position; ¹⁰and the rich man is to boast in his humiliation, because ^alike ¹flowering grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with ¹^,^aa scorching heat and ^bwithers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

¹²^aBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ¹been approved, he will receive ^bthe crown of life which the Lord ^chas promised to those who ^dlove Him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “^aI am being tempted ¹by God”; for God cannot be tempted ²by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵Then ^awhen lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when ^bsin is fully matured, it brings forth death. ¹⁶^aDo not be ¹deceived, ^bmy beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^afrom above, coming down from ^bthe Father of lights, ^cwith whom there is no variation or ¹shifting shadow. ¹⁸In the exercise of ^aHis will He ^bbrought us forth by ^cthe word of truth, so that we would be ¹a kind of ^dfirst fruits ²among His creatures.

Doers of the Word

¹⁹¹^,^aKnow this, ^bmy beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, ^cslow to speak and ^dslow to anger; ²⁰for ^athe anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore, ^alaying aside all filthiness and all ¹that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive ^bthe implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²²^aBut become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ¹natural face ^ain a mirror; ²⁴for once he looked at himself and has gone away, ¹he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. ²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^athe law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be ^bblessed in ¹what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not ¹^,^abridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Pure and undefiled religion ^abefore our God and Father is this: to ^bvisit ^corphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained ¹by ^dthe world.

The Sin of Favoritism

2^aMy brothers, ^bdo not hold your faith in our ¹^,^cglorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^dpersonal favoritism. ²For if a man comes into your ¹assembly with a gold ring and dressed in ^abright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in ^bdirty clothes, ³and you ¹pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^abright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” ⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^awith evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, ^amy beloved brothers: did not ^bGod choose the poor ¹of this world to be ^crich in faith and ^dheirs of the kingdom which He ^epromised to those who love Him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and they themselves ^adrag you into ¹court? ⁷^aDo they not blaspheme the good name ¹by which you have been called?

⁸If, however, you ^aare fulfilling the ¹royal law according to the Scripture, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹But if you ^ashow partiality, you are committing sin, being convicted by the ¹law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole ¹law and yet ^astumbles in one point, he has become ^bguilty of all. ¹¹For He who said, “^aDo not commit adultery,” also said, “^bDo not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the ¹law. ¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by ^athe law of freedom. ¹³For ^ajudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy ¹triumphs over judgment.

Yahweh Is the Maker of All

22A ^agood name is to be chosen over great wealth,Favor is better than silver and gold.²The rich and the poor meet together in this—Yahweh is the ^aMaker of them all.³A ^aprudent man sees evil and hides,But the simple pass on, and are punished.⁴The reward of humility—the ¹fear of Yahweh—Is riches, glory, and life.⁵^aThorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;He who keeps his soul will be far from them.⁶¹^,^aTrain up a child ²according to his way,Even when he is old he will not ³depart from it.⁷The ^arich rules over the poor,And the borrower is the slave of the lender.⁸He who ^asows unrighteousness will reap iniquity,And the ^brod of his fury will end.⁹He who ¹is ^agenerous will be blessed,For he ^bgives from his food to the poor.¹⁰^aDrive out the scoffer, and strife will go out,Even contention and disgrace will cease.¹¹He who loves ^apurity of heartAnd ^bgrace on his lips, the king is his friend.¹²The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge,But He subverts the words of the treacherous one.¹³The ^asluggard says, “There is a lion outside;I will be killed in the streets!”¹⁴The mouth of ^astrange women is a deep pit;He who is ^bcursed of Yahweh will fall ¹into it.¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child;The ^arod of discipline will remove it far from him.¹⁶He ^awho oppresses the poor to make ¹more for himselfOr who gives to the rich ^bwill only come to lack.¹⁷^aIncline your ear and hear the words of the wise,And set your heart on my knowledge;¹⁸For it will be ^apleasant if you keep them within you,¹That they may be established on your lips.¹⁹So that your ^atrust may be in Yahweh,I have made you know today, even you.²⁰Have I not written to you ¹^,^aexcellent thingsOf counsels and knowledge,²¹To make you ^aknow the veracity of the words of truthThat you may ¹^,^brespond with the words of truth to him who sent you?²²^aDo not rob the poor because he is poor,And do not ^bcrush the afflicted at the gate;²³For Yahweh will ^aplead their caseAnd rob the soul of those who rob them.²⁴Do not befriend a man of anger;And do not come along with a man of ^agreat wrath,²⁵Lest you ^alearn his waysAnd take on a snare against your soul.²⁶Do not be among those who ^astrike ¹hands in pledge,Among those who become guarantors for debts.²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,Why should he ^atake your bed from under you?²⁸^aDo not move the ancient boundaryWhich your fathers made.²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work?He will ^astand before kings;He will not stand before obscure men.