¹And a  ²contention also occurred among them as to which of them seemed to be greatest.

And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors.

But you shall not be so; but let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who  ¹serves.

For who is greater, the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as the one who serves.

But you are those who have remained with Me throughout My trials.

And I  ¹appoint to you, even as My Father has  ¹appointed to Me, a kingdom,

That you may eat and drink at My  ¹table in My kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 ¹Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have you all to sift you as wheat.

But I have made petition concerning you that your faith would not fail; and you, once you have turned again, establish your brothers.

And he said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.

But He said, I tell you, Peter, a rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me.

And He said to them, When I sent you without purse and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? And they said, Nothing.

And He said to them, But now, let him who has a purse take it, likewise also a bag; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and  ¹buy one.

For I tell you that this which is written must be accomplished in Me, “And He was counted with the lawless.” For indeed that which concerns Me has its  ¹fulfillment.

And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And He said to them, It is  ¹enough.

And He came out and went according to His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.

And when He came to the  ¹place, He said to them, Pray that you do not enter into temptation.

And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this  ¹cup from Me; yet, not My will, but  ²Yours be done.

 ¹And an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

And being in agony He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.

And when He rose up from prayer and came to the disciples, He found them sleeping from  ¹sorrow,

And He said to them, Why are you sleeping? Rise up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And David went up from there and remained in the strongholds of En-gedi.

And when Saul returned from following the Philistines, some told him, saying, David is now in the wilderness of En-gedi.

And Saul took three thousand choice men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

And he came to the sheepfolds along the way, and a cave was there. And Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost part of the cave.

And David's men said to him, The day is here of which Jehovah said to you, I am about to give your enemy into your hand. Do then to him according to what seems good in your sight. So David rose up and cut off a corner of Saul's cloak without being noticed.

But afterward David's heart smote him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's cloak.

And he said to his men,  ¹Jehovah forbid that I should do such a thing to my lord, Jehovah's anointed, as stretch out my hand against him; for he is Jehovah's anointed.

So David checked his men with these words and would not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way.

Then David rose up afterward and came out of the cave. And he called after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and paid him homage.

And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to men's words that say, David now seeks your harm?

Just this day your eyes have seen that Jehovah gave you into my hand today in the cave. And though some told me to kill you,  ¹I spared you and said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is Jehovah's anointed.

Now my father, look, indeed, look at the corner of your cloak in my hand; for in that I cut off the corner of your cloak and did not kill you, know and see that there is no harm or transgression in my hand. And though I have not sinned against you, you hunt after my life in order to take it.

May Jehovah judge between me and you, and may Jehovah avenge me of you; but my hand will not be against you.

As the proverb of the ancients says, Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness; but my hand will not be against you.

After whom does the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog; a single flea.

May Jehovah then be Judge and decide between me and you. And may He see and plead my cause and release me through His judgment out of your hand.

And when David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and  ¹wept.

And he said to David, You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me with good, while I have repaid you with evil.

And you have declared today how you did good to me, because Jehovah delivered me up into your hand, but you would not kill me.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he send him away safely? May Jehovah therefore reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.

And now I indeed know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

Now therefore swear to me by Jehovah that you will not cut off my seed after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father's house.

So David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Then Samuel  ¹died, and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him; and they buried him at his house in Ramah.

And David rose up and went down into the wilderness of Paran.

Now there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel. And the man was very wealthy: He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And at that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

And the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman had good discernment and was beautiful in appearance. But the man was hard, and he was evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

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.

And thus shall you say, Live long; and peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

Now therefore I hear that you have shearers; your shepherds have now been with us, and we have not harmed them, nor has there been anything missing from them, all the time they were in Carmel.

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let these young men find favor in your sight, for we come in a good time. Give whatever you may have on hand to your servants and to your son David.

So David's young men went and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited.

But Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is David, or who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who break away from their masters.

Shall I then take my food and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?

Then David's young men turned back on their way. And they returned and came and told him all these things.

And David said to his men, Each man gird on his sword. And each man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men. And two hundred remained with the baggage.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, David has just sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he shouted insultingly at them.

But the men were very good to us; and we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything all the time we went with them when we were in the fields.

They were a wall to us both by night and by day all the time we were with them tending the sheep.

Now therefore know and consider what you will do, because evil has been determined against our master and against all his house; for he is so worthless a man that no one can speak to him.

Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two skins of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she put them on her donkeys.

And she said to her young men, Go on before me; I am coming right behind you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

And as she rode on her donkey and came down under the cover of the mountain, David and his men at that moment came down toward her; and she met them.

Now David had said,  ¹It was certainly in vain that I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that he has; for he has repaid me evil for good.

May God do so to David's enemies, and even more, if I leave so much as a male child of all that he has until morning.

And when Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from her donkey and fell on her face before David; and she bowed herself to the ground.

And she fell at his feet and said, Upon me alone, my lord, be this iniquity; and let your female servant speak in your hearing, and hear the words of your female servant.

May my lord not take this worthless man Nabal to heart. For as his name is, so he is:  ¹Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your female servant did not see my lord's young men, whom you sent.

And now, my lord, as Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, since Jehovah has withheld you from entering into bloodshed and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now therefore let your enemies and those who seek harm against my lord be like Nabal.

And now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

Please forgive the transgression of your female servant, for Jehovah will no doubt make a sure house for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah; and no evil will be found in you throughout your days.

And though men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, my lord's life will be bound up in the bundle of the living with Jehovah your God; and the lives of your enemies He will sling out, as from the hollow of the sling.

And when Jehovah has done to my lord according to all the good He has spoken concerning you and has appointed you ruler over Israel,

This will not be a qualm of conscience to you or a stumbling block in heart to my lord, that you shed blood without cause or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your female servant.

And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.

And blessed be your discretion; and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from entering into bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

For surely as Jehovah the God of Israel lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, indeed there would not have been left to Nabal even a male child until morning's light.

So David took from her hand what she brought to him. And he said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have accepted your person.

And Abigail went to Nabal. And just then he was having a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, and he was extremely drunk; therefore she told him nothing, small or great, until the light of morning.

And in the morning, when the wine had left Nabal, his wife told him these things. And his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.

And about ten days later Jehovah struck Nabal, and he died.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal and who has withheld His servant from evildoing; and Jehovah has returned the evildoing of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent men to propose to Abigail, that he might take her to himself as  ¹wife.

And when David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to himself as wife.

And she rose up and fell on her face to the ground. And she said, Here is your female servant, as a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants.

And Abigail hurried and rose up; and she rode on a donkey, with her five young women following her. And she went after the messengers of David, and she became his wife.

David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and both of them became his wives.

Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, David is hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite the desert!

And Saul rose up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, with him three thousand choice men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite the desert, by the road. And David remained in the wilderness, but he saw that Saul had come into the wilderness after him.

And David sent spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.

So David rose up and went to the place where Saul encamped. And David looked on the place where Saul and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his army, lay. Now Saul was lying within the entrenchment, and the people were encamped around him.

And David responded and spoke to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul at the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

So David and Abishai went to the people by night; and there lay Saul, sleeping within the entrenchment, and his spear was stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay around him.

And Abishai said to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand today. Now therefore let me strike him with the spear even to the ground with one stroke, and I will not do it twice.

But David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against Jehovah's  ¹anointed and be guiltless?

And David said, As Jehovah lives, Jehovah will strike him down, or his day will come to die, or he will go down in battle and perish.

Jehovah forbid that I should stretch out my hand against Jehovah's anointed. Now therefore take the spear that is by his head and the water jug, and let us go.

So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul's head, and they went away. And no one saw it or knew about it, nor did anyone awake, for all of them were sleeping; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.

And David crossed over to the other side and stood on the top of the hill far off; a great distance was between them.

And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Will you not answer, Abner? And Abner answered and said, Who are you that calls out to the king?

And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord.

This thing is not good that you have done. As Jehovah lives, you are as good as dead because you did not guard your lord, Jehovah's anointed. Now therefore, see where the king's spear and the water jug that were by his head are.

And Saul recognized David's voice; and he said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

And he said, Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?

Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is Jehovah who has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is the sons of men, let them be cursed before Jehovah; for they have  ¹driven me out today, so that I cannot share in Jehovah's inheritance, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Now therefore do not let my blood fall to the ground apart from the presence of Jehovah; for the king of Israel has come forth to seek a single flea, as one might hunt a partridge in the mountains.

And Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David; for I will not harm you anymore, because my life was precious in your sight this day. I have indeed acted foolishly and have made a very great mistake.

And David answered and said, Here is the spear, O king. Let one of the young men cross over and get it.

And Jehovah will repay to each man his righteousness and faithfulness: Because Jehovah has delivered you into my hand today, and I would not stretch out my hand against Jehovah's anointed;

Then just as great as your life was in my eyes this day, so great may my life be in Jehovah's eyes that He would deliver me from all distress.

And Saul said to David, Blessed are you, my son David. You shall most certainly both do and prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.