1 Samuel 22; 1 Samuel 23; 1 Samuel 24; Luke 12:1-31

1 Samuel 22

1 David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him.

2 People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader.

3 David went on from there to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is going to do for me."

4 So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave.

5 Then the prophet Gad came to David and said, "Don't stay here; go at once to the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

6 One day Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his officers were standing around him. He was told that David and his men had been located,

7 and he said to his officers, "Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think that David will give fields and vineyards to all of you, and make you officers in his army?

8 Is that why you are plotting against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made an alliance with David. No one is concerned about me or tells me that David, one of my own men, is right now looking for a chance to kill me, and that my son has encouraged him!"

9 Doeg was standing there with Saul's officers, and he said, "I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob.

10 Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

11 So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him.

12 Saul said to Ahimelech, "Listen, Ahimelech!" "At your service, sir," he answered.

13 Saul asked him, "Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!"

14 Ahimelech answered, "David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court.

15 Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!"

16 The king said, "Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die."

17 Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the Lord's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord's priests.

18 So Saul said to Doeg, "You kill them!" - and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed eighty-five priests who were qualified to carry the ephod.

19 Saul also had all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep - they were all killed.

20 But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David.

21 He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord.

22 David said to him, "When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives.

23 Stay with me and don't be afraid. Saul wants to kill both you and me, but you will be safe with me."

1 Samuel 23

1 David heard that the Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah and were stealing the newly harvested grain.

2 So he asked the Lord, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Attack them and save Keilah."

3 But David's men said to him, "We have enough to be afraid of here in Judah; it will be much worse if we go to Keilah and attack the Philistine forces!"

4 So David consulted the Lord again, and the Lord said to him, "Go and attack Keilah, because I will give you victory over the Philistines.

5 So David and his men went to Keilah and attacked the Philistines; they killed many of them and took their livestock. And so it was that David saved the town.

6 When Abiathar son of Ahimelech escaped and joined David in Keilah, he took the ephod with him.

7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has put him in my power. David has trapped himself by going into a walled town with fortified gates."

8 So Saul called his troops to war, to march against Keilah and besiege David and his men.

9 When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, "Bring the ephod here."

10 Then David said, "Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant.

11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!" The Lord answered, "Saul will come."

12 "And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?" David asked again. "They will," the Lord answered.

13 So David and his men - about six hundred in all - left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.

14 David stayed in hiding in the hill country, in the wilderness near Ziph. Saul was always trying to find him, but God did not turn David over to him

15 David saw that Saul was out to kill him. David was at Horesh, in the wilderness near Ziph.

16 Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection,

17 saying to him, "Don't be afraid. My father Saul won't be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you."

18 The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "David is hiding out in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness.

20 We know, Your Majesty, how much you want to capture him; so come to our territory, and we will make sure that you catch him."

21 Saul answered, "May the Lord bless you for being so kind to me

22 Go and make sure once more; find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning.

23 Find out exactly the places where he hides, and be sure to bring back a report to me right away. Then I will go with you, and if he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah."

24 So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness.

25 Saul and his men set out to look for David, but he heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David.

26 Saul and his men were on one side of the hill, separated from David and his men, who were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul and his men, who were closing in on them and were about to capture them.

27 Just then a messenger arrived and said to Saul, "Come back at once! The Philistines are invading the country!"

28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why that place is called Separation Hill.

29 David left and went to the region of Engedi, where he stayed in hiding.

1 Samuel 24

1 When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness near Engedi.

2 Saul took three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks.

3 He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave.

4 They said to him, "This is your chance! The Lord has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to." David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it.

5 But then David's conscience began to hurt,

6 and he said to his men, "May the Lord keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the Lord chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the Lord!"

7 So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul. Saul got up, left the cave, and started away.

8 Then David went out after him and called to him, "Your Majesty!" Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect

9 and said, "Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you?

10 You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king.

11 Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong.

12 May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least.

13 You know the old saying, "Evil is done only by evil people.' And so I will not harm you.

14 Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea!

15 The Lord will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you."

16 When David had finished speaking, Saul said, "Is that really you, David my son?" And he started crying.

17 Then he said to David, "You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you!

18 Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the Lord put me in your power.

19 How often does someone catch an enemy and then let him get away unharmed? The Lord bless you for what you have done to me today!

20 Now I am sure that you will be king of Israel and that the kingdom will continue under your rule.

21 But promise me in the Lord's name that you will spare my descendants, so that my name and my family's name will not be completely forgotten."

22 David promised that he would. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back to their hiding place.

Luke 12:1-31

1 As thousands of people crowded together, so that they were stepping on each other, Jesus said first to his disciples, "Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees - I mean their hypocrisy.

2 Whatever is covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known.

3 So then, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in broad daylight, and whatever you have whispered in private in a closed room will be shouted from the housetops.

4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot afterward do anything worse.

5 I will show you whom to fear: fear God, who, after killing, has the authority to throw into hell. Believe me, he is the one you must fear!

6 "Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one sparrow is forgotten by God.

7 Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!

8 "I assure you that those who declare publicly that they belong to me, the Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God.

9 But those who reject me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject them before the angels of God.

10 "Whoever says a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 "When they bring you to be tried in the synagogues or before governors or rulers, do not be worried about how you will defend yourself or what you will say.

12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."

13 A man in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide with me the property our father left us."

14 Jesus answered him, "Friend, who gave me the right to judge or to divide the property between you two?"

15 And he went on to say to them all, "Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be."

16 Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops.

17 He began to think to himself, "I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do?

18 This is what I will do,' he told himself; "I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods.

19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!'

20 But God said to him, "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?' "

21 And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "And so I tell you not to worry about the food you need to stay alive or about the clothes you need for your body.

23 Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes.

24 Look at the crows: they don't plant seeds or gather a harvest; they don't have storage rooms or barns; God feeds them! You are worth so much more than birds!

25 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

26 If you can't manage even such a small thing, why worry about the other things?

27 Look how the wild flowers grow: they don't work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.

28 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!

29 "So don't be all upset, always concerned about what you will eat and drink.

30 (For the pagans of this world are always concerned about all these things.) Your Father knows that you need these things.

31 Instead, be concerned with his Kingdom, and he will provide you with these things.