1 Then Samuel died, and all of Israel gathered together, and they mourned him. And they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David, rising up, descended to the desert of Paran.
2 Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were at Carmel. And this man was exceedingly great. And three thousand sheep, and one thousand goats were his. And it happened that he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
3 Now the name of this man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a very prudent and beautiful woman. But her husband was hard-hearted, and very wicked, and malicious. And he was of the stock of Caleb.
4 Therefore, when David, in the desert, had heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
5 he sent ten young men, and he said to them: “Ascend to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name peacefully.
6 And you shall say: ‘Peace be to my brothers and to you, and peace to your house, and peace to whatever you have.
7 I have heard that your shepherds, who were with us in the desert, were shearing. We have never troubled them, nor was anything from the flock missing to them at any time, during the entire time that they have been with us in Carmel.
8 Question your servants, and they will tell you. Now therefore, may your servants find favor in your eyes. For we have arrived on a good day. Whatever your hand will find, give it to your servants and to your son David.’ “
9 And when the servants of David had arrived, they spoke to Nabal all these words in the name of David. And then they were silent.
10 But Nabal, responding to the servants of David, said: “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, servants who are fleeing from their lords are increasing.
11 Therefore, shall I take my bread, and my water, and the meat of the cattle that I have slain for my shearers, and give it to men, when I do not know where they are from?”
12 And so the servants of David traveled back along their way. And returning, they went and reported to him all the words that he had said.
13 Then David said to his servants, “Let each one gird his sword.” And each one girded his sword. And David also girded his sword. And about four hundred men followed David. But two hundred remained behind with the supplies.
14 Then it was reported to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, by one of his servants, saying: “Behold, David has sent messengers from the desert, so that they might speak kindly to our lord. But he turned them away.
15 These men were good enough to us, and were not troublesome. Neither did we ever lose anything, during the entire time that we conversed with them in the desert.
16 They were a wall to us, as much in the night as in the day, during all the days that we were with them, pasturing the sheep.
17 For this reason, consider and realize what you should do. For evil has been decided against your husband and against your house. And he is a son of Belial, so that no one is able to speak to him.”
18 And so Abigail hurried, and she took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five cooked sheep, and five measures of cooked grain, and one hundred clusters of dried grapes, and two hundred masses of dried figs, and she set them upon donkeys.
19 And she said to her servants: “Go before me. Behold, I will follow after your back.” But she did not reveal it to her husband, Nabal.
20 And when she had climbed on a donkey, and was descending to the base of the mountain, David and his men were descending to meet her. And she met them.
21 And David said: “Truly, in vain have I preserved all that was his in the wilderness, so that nothing perished out of all that belonged to him. And he has repaid evil to me for good.
22 May God do these things, by the enemies of David, and may he add these other things, if I leave behind until morning, out of all that belongs to him, anything that urinates against a wall.”
23 Then, when Abigail had seen David, she hurried and descended from the donkey. And she fell upon her face before David, and she reverenced on the ground.
24 And she fell at his feet, and she said: “May this iniquity be upon me, my lord. I beg you, let your handmaid speak to your ears, and listen to the words of your servant.
25 Let not my lord, the king, I beseech you, set his heart upon this iniquitous man, Nabal. For in accord with his name, he is senseless, and foolishness is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see your servants, my lord, whom you had sent.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as your soul lives, and as the Lord lives, who has kept your hand to yourself, and has prevented you from coming to blood: now, let your enemies be like Nabal, and like all those who are seeking evil for my lord.
27 Because of this, accept this blessing, which your handmaid has brought to you, my lord. And give it to the young men who follow you, my lord.
28 Forgive the iniquity of your handmaid. For the Lord will surely make for you, my lord, a faithful house, because you, my lord, fight the battles of the Lord. Therefore, let no evil be found in you all the days of your life.
29 For if a man, at any time, will rise up, pursuing you and seeking your life, the life of my lord will be preserved, as if in the sheave of the living, with the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies will be spun around, as if with the force of a whirling sling.
30 Therefore, when the Lord will have done for you, my lord, all the good that he has spoken about you, and when he will have appointed you as leader over Israel,
31 this will not be for you a regret or a scruple of the heart, my lord, that you had shed innocent blood, or had taken revenge for yourself. And when the Lord will have done well for my lord, you shall remember your handmaid.”
32 And David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. And blessed is your eloquence.
33 And blessed are you, who prevented me today from going to blood, and from taking revenge for myself with my own hand.
34 But instead, as the Lord God of Israel lives, he has prevented me from doing evil to you. But if you had not come quickly to meet me, there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light, anything that urinates against a wall.”
35 Then David received from her hand all that she had brought to him. And he said to her: “Go in peace to your own house. Behold, I have heeded your voice, and I have honored your face.”
36 Then Abigail went to Nabal. And behold, he was holding a feast for himself in his house, like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was cheerful. For he was greatly inebriated. And she did not reveal a word to him, small or great, until morning.
37 Then, at first light, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife revealed to him these words, and his heart died within himself, and he became like a stone.
38 And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: “Blessed is the Lord, who has judged the case of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and who has preserved his servant from evil. And the Lord has repaid the malice of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and he spoke with Abigail, so that he might take her to himself as wife.
40 And David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, so that he might take you to himself as wife.”
41 And rising up, she reverenced prone on the ground, and she said, “Behold, let your servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
42 And Abigail rose up and hurried, and she climbed upon a donkey, and five girls went with her, her attendants. And she followed the messengers of David, and she became his wife.
43 Moreover, David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel. And both of them were his wives.
44 Then Saul gave his daughter Michal, the wife of David, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
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1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you shall say to those who prophesy from their own heart: Hear the word of the Lord:
3 Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets, who are following their own spirit, and who see nothing.
4 Your prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.
5 You have not gone up against the adversary, and you have not established a wall for the house of Israel, so as to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.
6 They see emptiness, and they foretell falsehoods, saying, ‘The Lord says,’ though the Lord has not sent them. And they continued to affirm what they said.
7 Have you not seen a futile vision and spoken a lying divination? And yet you say, ‘The Lord says,’ though I have not spoken.
8 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have spoken emptiness and have seen falsehoods, therefore: behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.
9 And my hand will be over the prophets who are seeing emptiness and divining lies. They shall not be in the council of my people, and they shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel. Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.
10 For they have deceived my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ and there is no peace. And they have built a wall, but they have covered it in clay without straw.
11 Say to those who spread mortar without mixing, that it will fall apart. For there will be an inundating rain, and I will cause full-grown hailstones to rush down from above, and a windstorm to dissipate it.
12 So then, behold: when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you: ‘Where is the mortar with which you covered it?’
13 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: And I will cause a violent wind to burst forth in my indignation, and there will be an inundating rain in my fury, and great hailstones in wrath, to consume.
14 And I will destroy the wall that you have covered without tempering it. And I will level it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed. And it will fall and be consumed in its midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
15 And I will fulfill my indignation against the wall, and against those who cover it without mixing the mortar, and I will say to you: The wall is no more, and those who covered it are no more:
16 the prophets of Israel, who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord God.
17 And as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy from their own heart. And prophesy about them,
18 and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those who sew together little pillows under every forearm, and who make little cushions for the heads of every stage of life, in order to capture souls. And when they have seized the souls of my people, they became the life of their souls.
19 And they violated me among my people, for the sake of a handful of barley and a fragment of bread, so that they would kill the souls that should not die, and enliven the souls that should not live, lying to my people who believe in falsehoods.
20 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your little pillows, with which you catch flying souls. And I will tear them away from your arms. And I will release the souls that you are capturing, the souls that should fly.
21 And I will tear away your little cushions. And I will free my people from your hand. And they shall no longer be a prey in your hands. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
22 For by deception you have caused the heart of the just to grieve, whom I would not sadden. And I have strengthened the hands of the impious, so that he would not be turned back from his evil way and live.
23 Therefore, you shall not see emptiness, and you shall not divine divinations, any more. And I will rescue my people from your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”
1 A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
2 But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
1 Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also.
2 In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return again, and then I will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be.
4 And you know where I am going. And you know the way.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
7 If you had known me, certainly you would also have known my Father. And from now on, you shall know him, and you have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, reveal the Father to us, and it is enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him: “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me? Philip, whoever sees me, also sees the Father. How can you say, ‘Reveal the Father to us?’
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I am speaking to you, I do not speak from myself. But the Father abiding in me, he does these works.
11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
12 Or else, believe because of these same works. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me shall also do the works that I do. And greater things than these shall he do, for I go to the Father.
13 And whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you shall ask anything of me in my name, that I will do.
15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give another Advocate to you, so that he may abide with you for eternity:
17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world is not able to accept, because it neither perceives him nor knows him. But you shall know him. For he will remain with you, and he will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans. I will return to you.
19 Yet a little while and the world will not see me any longer. But you will see me. For I live, and you shall live.
20 In that day, you shall know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
21 Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them: it is he who loves me. And whoever loves me shall be loved by my Father. And I will love him, and I will manifest myself to him.”
22 Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him: “Lord, how does it happen that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus responded and said to him: “If anyone loves me, he shall keep my word. And my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make our dwelling place with him.
24 Whoever does not love me, does not keep not my words. And the word that you have heard is not of me, but it is of the Father who sent me.
25 These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you.
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will suggest to you everything whatsoever that I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave for you; my Peace I give to you. Not in the way that the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and let it not fear.
28 You have heard that I said to you: I am going away, and I am returning to you. If you loved me, certainly you would be gladdened, because I am going to the Father. For the Father is greater than I.
29 And now I have told you this, before it happens, so that, when it will happen, you may believe.
30 I will not now speak at length with you. For the prince of this world is coming, but he does not have anything in me.
31 Yet this is so that the world may know that I love the Father, and that I am acting according to the commandment that the Father has given to me. Rise up, let us go from here.”
