The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday July 12, 2017 (NIV)

^19a As David requested the aid of his Philistine allies in a battle against Saul, some Manassehites defected from Saul’s army to David’s army.^{[a] 20} The Manassehites included Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai—all captains of thousands in their tribe. ²¹ They could help David against attackers because they were all warriors and captains in the army. ²² Every day the numbers of David’s army increased, until it was as great as the army of God—large in number and justified by God’s will. ^19b But the Philistines at Ziklag refused to help David.

²³ This is a record of the divisions who joined David at Hebron to defeat Saul and conquer Israel as the Eternal determined.

²⁴ Of Judah 6,800 fought with spears and shields. ²⁵ Of Simeon, 7,100 were warriors. ²⁶ Of Levi 4,600 supported David— ²⁷ Jehoiada led 3,700 of the house of Aaron; ²⁸ Zadok, a young mighty man of valor, led 22 captains of his father’s house. ²⁹ Of Benjamin (Saul’s relatives), only 3,000 followed David because many maintained allegiance to their king, Saul. ³⁰ Of Ephraim 20,800 were famous warriors. ³¹ Of the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 helped to make David king. ³² Of Issachar (politically savvy men), 200 were chiefs of their own relatives. ³³ Of Zebulun 50,000 fought with various weapons and followed David with complete devotion. ³⁴ Of Naphtali 1,000 chiefs led 37,000 who fought with spears and shields. ³⁵ Of Dan 28,600 were skilled at keeping ranks. ³⁶ Of Asher 40,000 joined the ranks of the army able to keep formation. ³⁷ From the other side of the Jordan, 120,000 of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh fought with various weapons. ³⁸ All these warriors came to Hebron wholeheartedly to support King David as he ascended to the throne of Israel. All others living in Israel recognized David’s right to rule, ³⁹ and they celebrated with David three days with the food and drink their relatives had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ Their kinsmen and the neighboring tribes (even as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali) brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—large amounts of flour cakes, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep. All of Israel rejoiced.

⁴ Everyone agreed with David that this was right: the chest of the covenant should be among the people. ⁵ So David assembled Israel, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath in Aram, to take the covenant chest of God from Kiriath-jearim. ⁶ Everyone went up to Baalah (also known as Kiriath-jearim) in Judah to take the covenant chest of God where the Eternal sits between the winged heavenly creatures and His name is called. ⁷ They carried the covenant chest of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab; Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. ⁸ David and all Israel rejoiced with all their might with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets as a celebration before God.

⁹ When they arrived at the threshing floor of Chidon, the oxen tripped, nearly tipping the covenant chest off the cart, so Uzza reached out to steady it. ¹⁰ The Eternal was enraged at Uzza because he touched the chest and defiled its sanctity, ignoring God’s instructions never to touch it, so He killed the man in His presence. ¹¹ David was angry at the Eternal’s retribution against Uzza, so the king named that place Perez-uzza, meaning “broken Uzza,” as it still is called today. ¹² David feared God and wondered, “How can I bring the covenant chest of God, something with such awesome power, home with me?” ¹³ Instead of bringing it to the city of David, he took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, who was from Gath Rammon (a Levitical city). ¹⁴ There the covenant chest of God remained three months before David moved it to Jerusalem, and the Eternal blessed Obed-edom’s family in everything.

14 Hiram (king of Tyre) sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons, and carpenters to build a royal palace, acknowledging Israel and David’s political influence in the region. ² Because of the expanding power of Israel, David realized the Eternal had selected him as king over Israel to provide for His people. ³ At Jerusalem he took more wives and fathered more children. ⁴ These were the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

⁸ When the Philistines heard about David’s ascension to the throne of all Israel, they prepared to attack him. But David heard about their movement and sent his troops to attack them. ⁹ As the Philistines raided the valley of Rephaim, ¹⁰ David asked for God’s guidance.

¹¹ David defeated the Philistines at Baal-perazim, so named because “God broke the enemies with my hand as rushing waters break through barriers.” ¹² The Philistines abandoned their gods there, so David ordered the idols to be burned.

¹³ The Philistines raided the valley again. ¹⁴ Again David asked for God’s counsel.

¹⁶ David obeyed God’s command, and he defeated the army of the Philistines from Gibeon to Gezer. ¹⁷ David was famous among his neighboring nations, and the Eternal made all other nations afraid of him.

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus the Anointed called by God to be His emissary^[a] and appointed to tell the good news ² of the things promised long ago by God, spoken by prophets, and recorded in the Holy Scriptures. ³ All of this good news is about His Son: who was (from a human perspective) born of David’s royal line ⁴ and ultimately designated to be the true Son of God with power upon His resurrection from the dead by the Spirit of holiness. I am speaking of Jesus, the Anointed One, our Lord.

⁵ And here’s what He’s done: He has graced us and sanctioned us as His emissaries^[b] whose mission is to spread the one true and obedient faith to all people in the name of Jesus. ⁶ This includes you: you have been called by Jesus, God’s Anointed.

⁷ To all those who are God’s beloved saints in Rome:

May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, surround you.

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus the Anointed for all of you because we are joined by faith as family, and your faith is spreading across the world. ^9-10 For I call God as my witness—whom I worship in my spirit and serve in making known the gospel—He alone knows how often I mention you in my prayers. I find myself constantly praying for you and hoping it’s in God’s will for me to be with you soon. ¹¹ I desperately want to see you so that I can share some gift of the Spirit to strengthen you. ¹² Plus I know that when we come together something beautiful will happen as we are encouraged by each other’s faith.

¹³ If, my brothers and sisters, you did not already know, my plans were set to meet you in Rome, but time and circumstances have forced every trip to be canceled until now. I have deeply desired to see some good fruit among you just as I have seen with so many non-Jewish believers. ¹⁴ You see, I am in tremendous debt to those of various nationalities, from non-Jews to barbarians, from the wisest of the wise to the idle wanderer. ¹⁵ So you can imagine how eager I am to join you and to teach the good news in the mighty and diverse city of Rome.

¹⁶ For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won’t shy away from it, because it is God’s power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and then the non-Jew. ¹⁷ You see, in the good news, God’s restorative justice is revealed. And as we will see, it begins with and ends in faith. As the Scripture declares, “By faith the just will obtain life.”^[c]