Study Desk

and saith unto him, `Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father doth not find thee, and thou dost reign over Israel, and I am to thee for second, and also so knoweth Saul my father.'

And Saul saith, `Blessed [are] ye of Jehovah, for ye have pity on me;

go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his foot is; who hath seen him there? for [one] hath said unto me, He is very subtile.

And a messenger hath come in unto Saul, saying, `Haste, and come, for the Philistines have pushed against the land.'

and he saith to his men, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah; I do not do this thing to my lord -- to the anointed of Jehovah -- to put forth my hand against him, for the anointed of Jehovah he [is].'

Lo, this day have thine eyes seen how that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and [one] said to slay thee, and [mine eye] hath pity on thee, and I say, I do not put forth my hand against my lord, for the anointed of Jehovah he [is].

`And, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thine upper robe in my hand; for by cutting off the skirt of thy upper robe, and I have not slain thee, know and see that there is not in my hand evil and transgression, and I have not sinned against thee, and thou art hunting my soul to take it!

And Jehovah hath been for judge, and hath judged between me and thee, yea, he seeth and pleadeth my cause, and doth deliver me out of thy hand.'

And he saith unto David, `More righteous thou [art] than I; for thou hast done me good, and I have done thee evil;

and that a man doth find his enemy, and hath sent him away in a good manner; and Jehovah doth repay thee good for that which thou didst to me this day.

And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

`Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'

and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given [it] to men whom I have not known whence they [are]!'

`And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

`Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name [is] so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;

`Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee [all] thy days.

`And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,

that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord -- either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'

And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'