Study Desk

Verely (as truly as the LORDE the God of Israel lyueth, which hath hyndred me that I shulde do the no euell.) Yf thou haddest not met me in all the haist, Nabal shulde not haue had lefte him vntyll ye lighte mornynge, so moch as one that maketh water agaynst the wall.

So Dauid toke of hir hade what she had broughte him, and sayde vnto her: Go vp in peace vnto yi house: beholde, I haue herkened vnto yi voyce, and accepted thy personne.

But whan it was daye, & the wyne was come from Nabal, his wife tolde him these thinges. Then was his hert deed in his body, so that he became euen as a stone:

and ouer ten dayes the LORDE smote him, so yt he dyed.

So Dauid and Abisai came to the people in the night season, & beholde, Saul laye and slepte in the tent, and his speare stacke in ye grounde at his heade. But Abner and the people laye rounde aboute him.

So Dauid toke ye speare & the cuppe of water at Sauls heade, & they wente their waye. And there was no man yt sawe it, ner perceaued it, nether awaked, but they slepte euery one, for there was a depe slepe fallen vpon them from the LORDE.

Now whan Dauid was come ouer on ye other syde, he stode vpon the toppe of the mount a farre of (so that there was a wyde space betwene them)

and cried vpon ye people, and vpo Abner the sonne of Ner, & sayde: Hearest thou not Abner? And Abner answered and sayde: Who art thou that cryest so, and diseasest the kynge?

And he sayde morouer: Why doth my lorde so persecute his seruaunt? What haue I done? and what euell is there in my hande?

So fall not now my bloude vpon the earth from the face of the LORDE. For the kynge of Israel is gone forth to seke a flee, as a partriche is folowed on vpo the mountaynes.

And as yi soule hath bene greatly reputed in my sighte this daye, so let ye LORDE repute my soule in his sighte, & delyuer me from all trouble.

Dauid thoughte in his hert: One of these dayes shal I fall in to the handes of Saul: It is better that I get me my waye in to ye londe of ye Philistynes, that Saul maye leaue of from sekynge me in all the coastes of Israel, so shall I escape his handes.

So Dauid remayned by Achis at Gath, with his me, euery one with his housholde, and Dauid with his two wyues, Ahinoam the Iesraelitisse, and Abigail Nabals wife of Carmel.

So whan Achis spake: Whither fell ye in to daye? Dauid sayde: Towarde the south parte of Iuda, towarde ye south parte of the Ierahmielites, & towarde the south parte of the Kenites.

As for Samuel, he was deed, and all ye people had mourned for him, & buried him in his cite Ramath. So Saul had dryuen the soythsayers and expounders of tokens out of ye londe.

Then fell Saul immediatly vnto the earth, for he coulde not stonde, and was sore afrayed at these wordes of Samuel, so that there was nomore strength in him: for he had eaten no bred all that daye and all that night.

And the woman wente into Saul, & sawe that he was sore vexed, and sayde vnto him: Beholde, thy handmayde hath herkened vnto thy voyce, and I haue put my soule in my hande, so that I haue herkened vnto yi wordes which thou spakest vnto me.

But he refused, and sayde, I wil not eate. Then his seruauntes & the woman copelled him, so that he herkened vnto their voyce. And he rose vp from ye grounde, and sat vpon the bed.

The woman had a fat calfe at home, so she made haist, and kylled it, and toke meell and dyd kneet it, and baked swete cakes,

So Dauid & his men gat them vp early, to go their waye in the mornynge, and to come agayne in to the londe of the Philistynes. But the Philistynes wente vp towarde Iesrael.