Month: May 2023

David and Nathan

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and told him this:

⁵ David’s anger flared up against that man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is as good as dead. ⁶ In place of that lamb, he will restore four lambs, because he did this and had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan told David, “You are the man. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”

The Message of Judgment Against David

¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan said to David, “The Lord himself has put away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have treated the Lord with utter contempt,^[a] the child that is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne for David, and the child became sick. ¹⁶ David sought the Lord’s mercy for the child. David fasted and spent the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to pick him up off the ground, but he was not willing, and he would not eat food with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. The servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, because they said, “Look! When the child was living, we spoke to David, but he did not listen to what we said. How will we speak to him now when the child is dead? He might do something harmful.”

¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering together, he understood that the child was dead. So David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “Yes, he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground, washed, put on lotion, and changed his clothes. He went to the House of the Lord and worshipped. He then went back to his house and asked for food. So they prepared a meal for him, and he ate.

²¹ His servants said to him, “What are you doing? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept. But when the child died, you got up and ate food.”

²² He said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I said, ‘Who knows? Will the Lord be gracious to me and let my child live?’ ²³ Now he has died. Why should I fast? Am I able to return him to life again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴ David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He went to her and lay down with her. She gave birth to a son. David called him Solomon. The Lord loved him, ²⁵ and the Lord sent a message by the hand of Nathan the prophet that he should be called Jedidiah^[b] because of the Lord.

The Defeat of the Ammonites

²⁶ Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city.

²⁷ He sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah. I have also captured the city’s water supply. ²⁸ Now gather the rest of the troops, set up camp against the city, and take it. If you do not, I might take the city, and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the troops and went to Rabbah. He fought against it and took it.

³⁰ He removed the gold crown of their king^[c] from his head. It weighed seventy-five pounds,^[d] and it had a precious stone. It was placed on^[e] the head of David.

He brought out large quantities of plunder from the city. ³¹ He also brought the people out from it and made them work with saws, with iron picks and axes, and at brickmaking. He did the same to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

No Greater Love—in Joy

16 “I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who murders you will think he is offering a service to God. ³ They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their^[a] time comes, you may remember that I told them to you. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

⁵ “But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: ⁹ about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; ¹¹ about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹² “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into^[b] all truth. For he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak. He will also declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I said that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.

¹⁶ “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”^[c]

¹⁷ Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, “What does he mean when he tells us, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s saying.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? ²⁰ Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.

²² “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ²³ In that day you will not ask me anything. Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.

²⁵ “I have told you these things using figurative language. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you using figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will make requests of the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am going to leave the world and go to the Father.”

²⁹ “Yes!” his disciples said. “Now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative language. ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything and do not need to have anyone ask you anything. For this reason we believe that you came from God.”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Now do you believe? ³² Listen, a time is coming, in fact it is here, when you will be scattered, everyone to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not going to be alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you these things, so that you may have peace in me. In this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world.”

Tet: It Is Good to Be Afflicted

Yod: Those Who Fear You

David and Mephibosheth

9 David said, “Is there anyone still left from the house of Saul, to whom I may show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

² There was a servant of Saul’s house named Ziba, so they summoned him to come to David.

The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “I am.”

³ The king said, “Isn’t there still a man left who belongs to the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”

Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan. He has crippled feet.”

⁴ The king said to him, “Where is he?”

Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

⁵ So King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar.

⁶ When Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, came to David, he bowed facedown to the ground.

David said, “Mephibosheth?” He said, “I am.”

⁷ David said to him, “Do not be afraid. I will certainly show kindness to you because of Jonathan, your father. I will return to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat bread at my table.”

⁸ He bowed down and said, “What is your servant that you have paid attention to a dead dog like me?”

⁹ The king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I am giving to your master’s son. ¹⁰ You are to work the soil for him, you and your sons and your servants. You are to bring in the crops, so your master’s son will have food to eat. Mephibosheth, your master’s son, will always eat bread at my table.”

(Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹ Ziba said to the king, “Everything that my lord the king commands his servant, your servant will do.”

So Mephibosheth began eating at the king’s table^[a] like one of the king’s sons.

¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. Everyone living in Ziba’s house became servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth took up residence in Jerusalem because he was always to eat at the table of the king. He was crippled in both his feet.

The War With Ammon

10 After this, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

² David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent his officials to express condolences to Hanun concerning his father. David’s officials arrived in the land of the Ammonites.

³ But the officials of the Ammonites said to Hanun their master, “Do you really think David was honoring your father when he sent messengers to express his sympathy to you? No, David sent his officials to you in order to gather information about the city and to spy on it, in order to overthrow it.”

⁴ So Hanun seized the officials of David, shaved off half of each one’s beard, cut off their clothing up to their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ David was told about this, and he sent messengers to meet them because the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown. Then return.”

⁶ The Ammonites saw that they had become a digusting stench to David, so they sent and hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, one thousand men from the king of Ma’akah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.^[b]

⁷ When David heard about it, he deployed Joab and the entire army, the strong warriors.

⁸ The Ammonites went out and lined up in battle formation in front of the entrance to the city gate. Aram Zobah and Aram Rehob, as well as the men of Tob and Ma’akah, were lined up by themselves in the open country.

⁹ Joab saw that the battle lines were drawn up against him both in front of him and behind him, so he chose some of the best troops of Israel and lined them up to confront the Arameans. ¹⁰ The rest of the men he placed under the command of his brother Abishai and lined them up to face the Ammonites. ¹¹ He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, then you are to rescue me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come to rescue you. ¹² Be strong. We must show ourselves to be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”

¹³ Joab and all the people with him advanced to join battle against the Arameans, and the Arameans fled from him. ¹⁴ When the Ammonites saw that Aram had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent for Arameans from beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam with Shobak, who was the commander of the army of Hadadezer, at their head.

¹⁷ When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Arameans lined up to confront David and fought against him. ¹⁸ The Arameans fled from Israel. David killed seven hundred Aramean charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers.^[c] Shobak, the commander of their army, was wounded, and he died there. ¹⁹ All the kings who were the subjects of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, so they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. Then the Arameans were afraid to try to rescue the Ammonites anymore.

David and Bathsheba

11 Springtime arrived, the time when kings go out to war. David sent Joab out with his officers and with all Israel. They ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

² One evening David had gotten up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very good looking. ³ David sent to inquire about the woman, and he was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

⁴ David sent messengers to bring her. She came to him, and he lay down with her. (She had been purifying herself from her ceremonial uncleanness.)^[d] She then returned to her house.

⁵ The woman became pregnant, so she sent a message and told David, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ David sent a message to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David, ⁷ and Uriah came to him.

David asked how Joab and the troops were doing, and how the war effort was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”

When Uriah went out from the palace, the king sent a gift to him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all the servants of his master. He did not go down to his own house.

¹⁰ David was informed, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come a long distance? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are living in shelters, and my master Joab and the servants of my master are camped on the bare ground in the open countryside. Should I go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie down with my wife? By your life, as surely as you live, I will not do such a thing.”

¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ David summoned him, and Uriah ate as his guest, and David got him drunk. But in the evening he went and slept on his mat where the servants of his master were. He did not go to his own house.

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and he sent it in the hands of Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote, “Station Uriah opposite the fiercest fighting. Then withdraw from behind him so that he will be struck down and die.”

¹⁶ So when Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that the enemy’s strongest warriors were. ¹⁷ The men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the troops of David fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.

¹⁸ Joab sent a message to inform David about all the events of the war. ¹⁹ He instructed the messenger, “As you are finishing reporting all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ if the king becomes angry and says to you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would be shooting from on top of the wall? ²¹ Who killed Abimelek son of Jerubbesheth?^[e] Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone from the wall on him, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ Then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”

²² The messenger set out. He came and told David everything that Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger said to David, “Their men gained an advantage over us and drove us back into the open country. But then we gained the upper hand and drove them back all the way to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ The archers shot at your troops from the wall. Some of the servants of the king died. And your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”

²⁵ David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not take this too hard, because the sword devours people at random. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage Joab.”

²⁶ The wife of Uriah the Hittite heard that her husband was dead, so she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When her mourning was completed, David sent for her and brought her to his house, and she became his wife. She gave birth to a son for him. But what David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

No Greater Love—in Good Fruit

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.^{[a] 2} Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off. And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit.

³ “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be^[b] my disciples.

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so also I have loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you hold on to my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have held on to my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that my joy would continue to be in you and that your joy would be complete.

¹² “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you continue to do the things I instruct you. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will endure, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ These things I am instructing you, so that you love one another.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, for that very reason the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the saying I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too. If they held on to my word, they will hold on to yours as well. ²¹ But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I had not done the works among them that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This was to fulfill the word which is written in their Law: ‘They hated me for no reason.’^[c]

²⁶ “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also are going to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Zayin: Comfort in Suffering

Ḥet: I Will Not Forget

More Advice for a Wise Son

The Lord’s Messianic Covenant With David

7 It happened that when the king was living in his palace, and when the Lord had given him rest from his enemies all around, ² the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God sits under tent curtains.”

³ Nathan said to the king, “Go and do everything that is in your heart, because the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan. He said, ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David all these things.”

The Covenant

¹⁷ Nathan told David all the words that had been revealed in this vision.

David’s Response to the Covenant

¹⁸ Then King David went and sat before the Lord and said:

David’s Wars

8 After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ha’ammah^[g] from the control of the Philistines.

² He defeated Moab and measured the men with a length of rope after making them lie down on the ground. He measured two lengths to be put to death and one full length to live. The Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his control^[h] at the river Euphrates. ⁴ David captured seventeen hundred charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers^[i] from him. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but he left enough horses for a hundred chariots. ⁵ Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David killed twenty-two thousand men in Aram. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Damascus in the land of Aram,^[j] and the Arameans became subject to David and brought tribute.

The Lord gave victory to David everywhere he went.

⁷ David took the gold shields that belonged to the officials of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ From Betah and Berothai,^[k] cities of Hadadezer, King David took large amounts of bronze.

⁹ Toi^[l] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer. ¹⁰ So Toi sent his son Joram^[m] to King David to petition him for peace and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, because Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. In his hand he brought items made of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.

¹¹ King David dedicated these things to the Lord along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations he had subdued: ¹² from Aram, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ David made a name for himself when he returned from striking eighteen thousand Edomites^[n] in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He put garrisons in Edom, in all of it, and all the Edomites became subject to David.

The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ¹⁵ David was king over all Israel, and he treated all his people with justice and fairness.

David’s Officials

¹⁶ Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the record keeper.^{[o] 17} Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests. Seraiah was the secretary. ¹⁸ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the Kerethites and the Pelethites. The sons of David were government ministers.^[p]

¹⁵ “If you love me, hold on to^[a] my commands. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. You know him because he stays with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ The one who has my commands and holds on to them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I too will love him and show myself to him.”

²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ The one who does not love me does not hold on to my words. The word that you are hearing is not mine, but it is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you these things while staying with you. ²⁶ But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I told you.

²⁷ “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

²⁹ “I have told you now before it happens so that, when it does happen, you may believe. ³⁰ I will not speak with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me. ³¹ But I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has instructed me.

“Get up. Let’s leave this place.”

He: That You May Be Feared

Vav: Speak Before Kings

The Death of Ishbosheth

4 When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died at Hebron, he lost his courage, and all Israel panicked.

² Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of raiding bands. One was named Ba’anah;^[a] the second was Rekab. They were Benjaminites, sons of Rimmon from Be’eroth. (Be’eroth is considered part of Benjamin. ³ The Be’erothites fled to Gittaim. They have lived there as aliens until the present time.)

⁴ Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son with crippled feet. This son had been five years old when the report had come from Jezre’el about Saul and Jonathan. His caregiver picked him up and fled. While she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.^[b]

⁵ Ba’anah and Rekab, the sons of Rimmon from Be’eroth, went out during the heat of the day and came to the house of Ishbosheth while he was lying down for his midday rest. ⁶ ⎣The doorkeeper of the house had been cleaning wheat, but she had grown drowsy and fallen asleep. So Rekab and his brother Ba’anah slipped in.⎦^[c] They came into the inner part of the house as if they were coming to get wheat. They stabbed Ishbosheth in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Ba’anah escaped. ⁷ They had gone into the house while Ishbosheth was lying on his bed in the room where he rested. They struck him, killed him, and cut off his head. Taking his head with them, they traveled on the Arabah Road all night.

⁸ They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, “Look! Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. This day the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance on Saul and his offspring.”

⁹ David answered Rekab and his brother Ba’anah, the sons of Rimmon from Be’eroth, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every evil, ¹⁰ the man who told me, ‘Look! Saul is dead,’ thought that he was bringing good news, but I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That is what I gave him for his ‘good news.’ ¹¹ So now that wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his own bed, will I not require his blood from your hand! I will wipe you off the face of the earth.” ¹² Then David gave the orders to his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. They took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

David Becomes King of All Israel

5 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They said, “Look, we are your flesh and blood.^{[d] 2} Day after day, even when Saul was king, you were the one leading Israel out to battle and back again. And you are the one to whom the Lord said, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel. You will become leader over Israel.’”

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the presence of the Lord. They anointed David king over Israel. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled as king for forty years. ⁵ He was king over Judah at Hebron for seven years and six months. For thirty-three years he was king over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem.

The Capture of Jerusalem

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, who were living in the land. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here, because you could be kept out even by the blind and lame, who say, ‘David will not come in here.’” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, which became the City of David.

⁸ David said on that day, “Anyone who attacks the Jebusites must go up through the water shaft^[e] to get at those lame and blind enemies of David.” Therefore the saying came about, “The blind and the lame will not come into the house.”

⁹ David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. David built up all sides of the stronghold from the Millo^[f] inward. ¹⁰ David kept getting greater and greater, because the Lord, the God of Armies, was with him.

Events of David’s Reign

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre sent representatives to David with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. ¹² David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had lifted up his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³ David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he had come from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

¹⁷ The Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel. So all the Philistines went up to search for David. David, however, heard about it and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ The Philistines came and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ David asked the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?”

The Lord said to David, “Go up, because I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated them there. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a wall of water.” That is why he named that place Baal Perazim.^{[g] 21} The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

²² The Philistines came up again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ David inquired of the Lord, who said, “Do not go directly at them. Go around to their rear. Come upon them opposite the balsam trees.^{[h] 24} When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then get ready, because then the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵ So David did as the Lord commanded him. He struck the Philistines from Gibeon^[i] all the way to Gezer.

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6 David once again gathered all of the thirty thousand specially chosen men of Israel. ² Then David and all the people who were with him set out and went to Baale Judah^[j] to bring up the Ark of God, who is called by the name “The Lord of Armies, who sits above the cherubim.”

³ They transported the Ark of God on a new cart. They brought it out from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴ ⎣⎦^[k] with the Ark of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

⁵ David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments, castanets,^[l] lyres, harps, hand drums, rattles,^[m] and cymbals.

⁶ But when they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grabbed it because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence. So he died there beside the Ark of God.

⁸ David was angry because the Lord had burst out so violently against Uzzah, and he called that place Perez Uzzah,^[n] as it is called to this day. ⁹ David was afraid of the Lord on that day. He said, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ David was not willing to move the Ark of the Lord to himself in the City of David.

So David diverted the ark to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The Ark of the Lord remained at the house of Obed Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his whole household. ¹² David was told, “Because of the Ark of God, the Lord has blessed the house of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him.”^[o]

With rejoicing, David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edom to the City of David. ¹³ When those carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. ¹⁴ David danced with all his might before the Lord. He was wearing a linen vest.^{[p] 15} David and the entire house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of a ram’s horn.

¹⁶ When the Ark of the Lord arrived at the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David finished presenting the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁹ He distributed one loaf of bread, one cake of dates,^[q] and one cake of raisins to all the people, to the whole crowd from Israel, to men and women, to each and every person. Then all the people left. All of them went to their own houses, ²⁰ and David returned to bless his house.

Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David. She said, “How the king of Israel has brought honor to himself today by exposing himself in the sight of his female servants, just as a vulgar person exposes himself!”

²¹ David said to Michal, “I did this before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his house, when he appointed me leader over the people of the Lord, over Israel. I will rejoice before the Lord, ²² and I will make myself even more lowly than this. I will be humble in my own eyes, but among the servant girls you have spoken about, among them I will be honored.”

²³ Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.

³¹ After Judas left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.^{[a] 32} If God is glorified in him,^[b] God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.”

Jesus Warns Peter

³³ “Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

³⁶ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷ Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Amen, Amen, I tell you: The rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.”

No Greater Love—in Peace

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many mansions.^[c] If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.^{[d] 3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. ⁴ You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

⁵ “Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “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 know me, you would also know my Father.^[e] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us.”

⁹ “Have I been with you so long,” Jesus answered, “and you still do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I am telling you I am not speaking on my own, but the Father who remains in me is doing his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Or else believe^[f] because of the works themselves.

¹² “Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me^[g] for anything in my name, I will do it.

Gimel: Open My Eyes

Dalet: A Changed Heart

¹² Abner son of Ner and the followers of Ishbosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ Joab son of Zeruiah and the followers of David went out and confronted them at the pool^[a] of Gibeon. They took up positions on the opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴ Abner said to Joab, “The young men should get up and compete in front of us.”

Joab said, “Yes, let them do so.”

¹⁵ So twelve representatives for Benjamin and Ishbosheth son of Saul got up and crossed over to confront twelve representatives for David. ¹⁶ Each one grabbed his opponent’s head and thrust his sword into his side. Together, they all fell. So that place, which is near Gibeon, was called Helkath Hatsurim.^{[b] 17} A fierce battle took place that day. Abner and the men of Israel were beaten by the followers of David.

¹⁸ Three sons of Zeruiah were there, namely, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the gazelles out in the fields. ¹⁹ Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn aside to the right or to the left from his pursuit.

²⁰ Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

He said, “Yes, it is.”

²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right hand or to your left and capture one of the young men for yourself and strip off his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside.

²² So Abner warned him again, “Turn aside. Stop following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I face Joab your brother?” ²³ But Asahel refused to turn aside, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the pointed butt of his spear. The spear came out his back, and he fell down and died right there. Everyone stopped and just stood there when they came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai keep pursuing Abner. The sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah in front of Giah, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied together behind Abner, joined in one formation, and took their stand on the top of one hill.

²⁶ Abner called to Joab, “Will the sword continue to devour? Do you not know that it will be bitter when all this is over? How long will you delay telling the people to stop pursuing their brothers?”

²⁷ Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely it would have been morning before the people would have given up pursuing their brothers.” ²⁸ So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the people stopped pursuing Israel. They did not continue to fight.

²⁹ Abner and his men traveled through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched through the entire region of Bithron,^[c] and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ Joab returned from pursuing Abner and gathered together all his troops. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were missing. ³¹ The followers of David had struck dead three hundred sixty of Abner’s men from the tribe of Benjamin. ³² The men of Judah picked up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem.

Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron as it was becoming light.

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David kept getting stronger, and the house of Saul kept getting weaker.

David’s Sons

² Sons were born to David at Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, who was born to Ahinoam from Jezre’el. ³ His second was Kileab, who was born to Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. The third was Absalom, who was the son of Ma’akah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. ⁴ The fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital. ⁵ The sixth, Ithream, was born to David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner and Ishbosheth

⁶ While the war was going on between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner kept gaining power within the house of Saul.

⁷ Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone to the concubine of my father?”

⁸ Abner became very angry because of the words of Ishbosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? To this day I have acted with loyalty toward the house of your father Saul, to his relatives, and to his friends. In addition, I have not handed you over to David, but today you make accusations against me concerning this woman! ⁹ May God punish me severely and double it,^[d] if I do not do for David what the Lord has sworn about him ¹⁰ by transferring the kingdom from the house of Saul and establishing the throne of David over both Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹ Ishbosheth was not able to say anything to Abner anymore because he was afraid of him.

Abner and David

¹² Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David. They said, “Whose land is it? Make a covenant with me. Look, my hand is with you to turn the allegiance of all Israel to you.”

¹³ David said, “Good. I will make a covenant with you, but I require one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring to me Michal, the daughter of Saul, when you come.”

¹⁴ David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son. They delivered this demand: “Give me my wife Michal, whom I obtained as my wife with a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

¹⁵ Ishbosheth sent and took her away from her husband, Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶ Her husband accompanied her to Bahurim, weeping all the way, but Abner told him, “Go back,” so he went home.

¹⁷ Abner also delivered the following message to the elders of Israel: “Day after day you have been seeking to have David as king over you. ¹⁸ Now do it, because the Lord said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will rescue^[e] my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’”

¹⁹ Abner also spoke to the tribe of Benjamin. Then he spoke to David in Hebron about everything that Israel and all the house of Benjamin had approved.

²⁰ Abner and twenty men along with him came to David at Hebron, and David held a feast for Abner and his men. ²¹ Abner said to David, “I will go and gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you. You will rule over all that your heart desires.” David sent Abner away in peace.

Abner and Joab

²² Just then the soldiers of David and Joab came back from a raid. They brought a large amount of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the army with him arrived, Joab was informed that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that David had sent him away in peace.

²⁴ So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you. Why have you sent him away? You let him get away! ²⁵ You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to learn about your comings and goings and everything that you are doing.”

²⁶ Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the cistern at Sirah without David’s knowledge. ²⁷ So Abner returned to Hebron, and Joab took him aside into the gatehouse to speak with him. There he stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner was killed because of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²⁸ Afterward David heard about it and said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord forever concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May his blood splash down on the head of Joab and on the entire house of his father. May the house of Joab never lack a man who has an oozing sore, who is a leper, who holds a spindle,^[f] who falls by the sword, or who has no bread.”

³⁰ Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had caused the death of their brother Asahel during the battle at Gibeon.

³¹ David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothing. Put on sackcloth and mourn for Abner.” King David walked behind the stretcher^[g] that was carrying his body. ³² They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king wept loudly at the grave of Abner. All the people also wept. ³³ The king lamented over Abner, “Should Abner have died as a fool dies? ³⁴ Your hands were not tied up, and your feet were not bound with iron shackles. You have fallen as one falls before the wicked.” All the people continued to weep over him.

³⁵ All the people came to try to persuade David to eat on that day, but David swore, “May God punish me severely and double it, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down.”

³⁶ All the people took notice and approved of this, as they approved of everything that the king did. ³⁷ All the people, all Israel, knew on that day that it was not the king’s idea to kill Abner son of Ner. ³⁸ The king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a great commander has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ Today I am weak, even though I am the anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me. I pray that the Lord will pay back the evildoer in proportion to his wickedness.”

No Greater Love—in Service

13 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end.^[a]

² By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³ Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴ He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”

⁸ Peter told him, “You will never, ever, wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Lord, not just my feet,” Simon Peter replied, “but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus told him, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, but his body is completely clean. And you^[b] are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ Indeed, he knew who was going to betray him. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. ¹⁴ Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

¹⁸ “I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is so that the Scripture may be fulfilled: ‘One who eats bread with me has raised his heel against me.’^{[c] 19} I am telling you this right now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am he.

²⁰ “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whoever receives anyone I send, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me.”

Who Is the Betrayer?

²¹ After saying this, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: One of you will betray me.”

²² The disciples were looking at each other, uncertain which of them he meant.

²³ One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. ²⁴ So Simon Peter motioned to him to find out which one he was talking about.

²⁵ So leaning back against Jesus’ side, he asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread, after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do more quickly.”

²⁸ None of those reclining at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Because Judas kept the money box, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the Festival,” or to give something to the poor. ³⁰ As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Psalm 119

The Great Psalm on the Law of the Lord^[a]

Aleph: Blessed Are the Blameless

Bet: Hidden in My Heart