Today’s Reading : 1Samuel 19 – 21  and Romans 4  (KJV)

 

 

1Samuel 19

1Sa 19:1  And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

1Sa 19:2  But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:

1Sa 19:3  And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.

1Sa 19:4  And Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:

1Sa 19:5  For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

1Sa 19:6  And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.

1Sa 19:7  And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.

1Sa 19:8  And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

1Sa 19:9  And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

1Sa 19:10  And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

1Sa 19:11  Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain.

1Sa 19:12  So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

1Sa 19:13  And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

1Sa 19:14  And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

1Sa 19:15  And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.

1Sa 19:16  And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster.

1Sa 19:17  And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

1Sa 19:18  So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

1Sa 19:19  And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

1Sa 19:20  And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

1Sa 19:21  And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

1Sa 19:22  Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah.

1Sa 19:23  And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1Sa 19:24  And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

 

1Samuel 20

1Sa 20:1  And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

1Sa 20:2  And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.

1Sa 20:3  And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth,  there is but a step between me and death.

1Sa 20:4  Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.

1Sa 20:5  And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.

1Sa 20:6  If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

1Sa 20:7  If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.

1Sa 20:8  Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

1Sa 20:9  And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?

1Sa 20:10  Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?

1Sa 20:11  And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

1Sa 20:12  And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee;

1Sa 20:13  The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

1Sa 20:14  And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:

1Sa 20:15  But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

1Sa 20:16  So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.

1Sa 20:17  And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

1Sa 20:18  Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.

1Sa 20:19  And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.

1Sa 20:20  And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

1Sa 20:21  And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.

1Sa 20:22  But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.

1Sa 20:23  And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me forever.

1Sa 20:24  So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.

1Sa 20:25  And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.

1Sa 20:26  Nevertheless Saul spoke not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.

1Sa 20:27  And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor today?

1Sa 20:28  And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:

1Sa 20:29  And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.

1Sa 20:30  Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?

1Sa 20:31  For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.

1Sa 20:32  And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?

1Sa 20:33  And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.

1Sa 20:34  So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

1Sa 20:35  And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

1Sa 20:36  And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

1Sa 20:37  And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?

1Sa 20:38  And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.

1Sa 20:39  But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

1Sa 20:40  And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.

1Sa 20:41  And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.

1Sa 20:42  And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

 

 

1Samuel 21

1Sa 21:1  Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

1Sa 21:2  And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

1Sa 21:3  Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

1Sa 21:4  And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

1Sa 21:5  And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

1Sa 21:6  So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

1Sa 21:7  Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul.

1Sa 21:8  And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

1Sa 21:9  And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

1Sa 21:10  And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

1Sa 21:11  And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

1Sa 21:12  And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

1Sa 21:13  And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

1Sa 21:14  Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?

1Sa 21:15  Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

 

Romans 4

Rom 4:1  What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

Rom 4:2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

Rom 4:3  For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Rom 4:4  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Rom 4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 4:6  Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Rom 4:7  Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

Rom 4:8  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Rom 4:9  Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

Rom 4:10  How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Rom 4:11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

Rom 4:12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Rom 4:14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

Rom 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:

Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Rom 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.