Author: Powered by Bible Gateway

The Assassination of Ish-bosheth

4 When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up,^[a] and all Israel was dismayed. ² Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, ³ and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and still reside there as aliens today.

⁴ Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny^[b] picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.^(A)

⁵ Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at Ish-bosheth’s house during the heat of the day while the king was taking his midday nap. ⁶ They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. ⁷ They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom and stabbed and killed him. They removed his head, took it, and traveled by way of the Arabah^(B) all night. ⁸ They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹ But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, the one who has redeemed my life from every distress,^{(C) 10} when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag.^(D) That was my reward to him for his news! ¹¹ How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his own bed! So now, should I not require his blood from you and purge you from the earth?” ^(E)

¹² So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.^(F)

David, King of Israel

5 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron^(G) and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{[c](H) 2} Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back.^(I) The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’”

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them^(J) at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began his reign;^(K) he reigned forty years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites^(L) who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

⁷ Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.^{(M) 8} He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.”^[d] For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”^[e]

⁹ David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰ David became more and more powerful,^(N) and the Lord God of Armies was with him.^{(O) 11} King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons,^(P) and they built a palace for David. ¹² Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

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

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel,^(S) they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{(T) 18} So the Philistines came and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ Then David inquired of the Lord:^(U) “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.”^(V) Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out.^{[f] 21} The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

²² The Philistines came up again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”^{(W) 25} So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

David Moves the Ark

6 David again assembled all the fit young men in Israel:^(X) thirty thousand. ² He and all his troops set out^(Y) to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah.^[g] The ark bears the Name, the name of the Lord of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.^{(Z) 3} They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,^[h] sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart^{(AA) 4} and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark. ⁵ David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments,^[i] lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,^[j] and cymbals.^(AB)

⁶ When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah,^(AC) and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence,^(AD) and he died there next to the ark of God. ⁸ David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah,^[k] as it is today. ⁹ David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰ So he was not willing to bring the ark of the Lord to the city of David;^(AE) instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. ¹¹ The ark of the Lord remained in his house three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom^(AF) and his whole family.

¹² It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.^{(AG) 13} When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.^{(AH) 14} David was dancing^[l] with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.^{(AI) 15} He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn. ¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David,^(AJ) Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from 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 David had pitched for it.^(AK) Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁹ Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women.^(AL) Then all the people went home.

²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household,^(AM) Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

²¹ David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel.^(AN) I will dance before the Lord, ²² and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more.^[m][n] However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.” ²³ And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

The New Command

³¹ When^(A) he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man^(B) is glorified, and God is glorified^(C) in him.^{(D) 32} If God is glorified in him,^[a] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Children, I am with you a little while longer.^(E) You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’^(F)

³⁴ “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love^(G) one another.”

Peter’s Denials Predicted

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

Jesus answered, “Where I am going^(H) you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷ “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life^(I) for you.”^(J)

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

The Way to the Father

14 “Don’t let your heart be troubled.^(K) Believe^[b] in God; ^(L) believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away^(M) to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again^(N) and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.^{(O) 4} You know the way to where I am going.”^[c](P)

⁵ “Lord,” Thomas^(Q) said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am^(R) the way,^(S) the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you know me, you will also know^[d] my Father.^(T) From now on you do know him^(U) and have seen him.”

Jesus Reveals the Father

⁸ “Lord,” said Philip,^(V) “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father.^(W) 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?^(X) The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own.^(Y) The Father who lives in me does his works.^{(Z) 11} Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe^[e] because of the works themselves.^(AA)

Praying in Jesus’s Name

¹² “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me^(AB) will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these,^(AC) because I am going to the Father.^{(AD) 13} Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified^(AE) in the Son.^{(AF) 14} If you ask me^[f] anything in my name,^(AG) I will do it.^[g](AH)

ג Gimel

ד Daleth

The Assassination of Ish-bosheth

4 When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up,^[a] and all Israel was dismayed. ² Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, ³ and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and still reside there as aliens today.

⁴ Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny^[b] picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.^(A)

⁵ Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at Ish-bosheth’s house during the heat of the day while the king was taking his midday nap. ⁶ They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. ⁷ They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom and stabbed and killed him. They removed his head, took it, and traveled by way of the Arabah^(B) all night. ⁸ They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹ But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, the one who has redeemed my life from every distress,^{(C) 10} when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag.^(D) That was my reward to him for his news! ¹¹ How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his own bed! So now, should I not require his blood from you and purge you from the earth?” ^(E)

¹² So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.^(F)

David, King of Israel

5 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron^(G) and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{[c](H) 2} Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back.^(I) The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’”

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them^(J) at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began his reign;^(K) he reigned forty years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites^(L) who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

⁷ Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.^{(M) 8} He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.”^[d] For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”^[e]

⁹ David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰ David became more and more powerful,^(N) and the Lord God of Armies was with him.^{(O) 11} King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons,^(P) and they built a palace for David. ¹² Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

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

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel,^(S) they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{(T) 18} So the Philistines came and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ Then David inquired of the Lord:^(U) “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.”^(V) Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out.^{[f] 21} The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

²² The Philistines came up again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”^{(W) 25} So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

David Moves the Ark

6 David again assembled all the fit young men in Israel:^(X) thirty thousand. ² He and all his troops set out^(Y) to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah.^[g] The ark bears the Name, the name of the Lord of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.^{(Z) 3} They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,^[h] sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart^{(AA) 4} and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark. ⁵ David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments,^[i] lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,^[j] and cymbals.^(AB)

⁶ When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah,^(AC) and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence,^(AD) and he died there next to the ark of God. ⁸ David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah,^[k] as it is today. ⁹ David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰ So he was not willing to bring the ark of the Lord to the city of David;^(AE) instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. ¹¹ The ark of the Lord remained in his house three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom^(AF) and his whole family.

¹² It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.^{(AG) 13} When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.^{(AH) 14} David was dancing^[l] with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.^{(AI) 15} He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn. ¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David,^(AJ) Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from 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 David had pitched for it.^(AK) Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁹ Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women.^(AL) Then all the people went home.

²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household,^(AM) Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

²¹ David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel.^(AN) I will dance before the Lord, ²² and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more.^[m][n] However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.” ²³ And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

The New Command

³¹ When^(A) he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man^(B) is glorified, and God is glorified^(C) in him.^{(D) 32} If God is glorified in him,^[a] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Children, I am with you a little while longer.^(E) You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’^(F)

³⁴ “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love^(G) one another.”

Peter’s Denials Predicted

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

Jesus answered, “Where I am going^(H) you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷ “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life^(I) for you.”^(J)

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

The Way to the Father

14 “Don’t let your heart be troubled.^(K) Believe^[b] in God; ^(L) believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away^(M) to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again^(N) and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.^{(O) 4} You know the way to where I am going.”^[c](P)

⁵ “Lord,” Thomas^(Q) said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am^(R) the way,^(S) the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you know me, you will also know^[d] my Father.^(T) From now on you do know him^(U) and have seen him.”

Jesus Reveals the Father

⁸ “Lord,” said Philip,^(V) “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father.^(W) 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?^(X) The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own.^(Y) The Father who lives in me does his works.^{(Z) 11} Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe^[e] because of the works themselves.^(AA)

Praying in Jesus’s Name

¹² “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me^(AB) will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these,^(AC) because I am going to the Father.^{(AD) 13} Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified^(AE) in the Son.^{(AF) 14} If you ask me^[f] anything in my name,^(AG) I will do it.^[g](AH)

ג Gimel

ד Daleth

¹² Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ So Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon.^(A) The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and compete in front of us.”

“Let them get up,” Joab replied.

¹⁵ So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from David’s soldiers. ¹⁶ Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side so that they all died together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is named Field of Blades.^[a]

¹⁷ The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel.^(B) Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles.^{(C) 19} He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him. ²⁰ Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes it is,” Asahel replied.

²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young soldiers, and take whatever you can get from him.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him. ²² Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I ever look your brother Joab in the face?” ^(D)

²³ But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the butt of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. As they all came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped, ²⁴ but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a unit and took their stand on top of a hill. ²⁶ Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

²⁷ “As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”^{(E) 28} Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight. ²⁹ So Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning,^[b] and arrived at Mahanaim.^(F)

³⁰ When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, ³¹ but they had killed 360 of the Benjaminites and Abner’s men. ³² Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father’s tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.

Civil War

3 During the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David,^(G) David was growing stronger^(H) and the house of Saul was becoming weaker.

² Sons were born to David in Hebron:

These were born to David in Hebron.^(O)

⁶ During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner kept acquiring more power in the house of Saul.^{(P) 7} Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah^(Q) daughter of Aiah, and Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸ Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I a dog’s head^[c](R) who belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I’ve been loyal to the family of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends and haven’t betrayed you to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman! ⁹ May God punish Abner and do so severely if I don’t do for David what the Lord swore to him: ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah^(S) from Dan to Beer-sheba.” ¹¹ Ish-bosheth did not dare respond to Abner because he was afraid of him.

¹² Abner sent messengers as his representatives to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make your covenant with me, and you can be certain I am on your side to turn all Israel over to you.”

¹³ David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: You will not see my face unless you first bring Saul’s daughter Michal^(T) when you come to see me.”

¹⁴ Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal. I was engaged to her for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”^(U)

¹⁵ So Ish-bosheth sent someone to take her away from her husband, Paltiel son of Laish.^{(V) 16} Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he went back.

The Assassination of Abner

¹⁷ Abner conferred with the elders of Israel: “In the past you wanted David to be king over you. ¹⁸ Now take action, because the Lord has spoken concerning David: ‘Through my servant David I will save my people Israel from the power of the Philistines and the power of all Israel’s enemies.’”

¹⁹ Abner also informed the Benjaminites and went to Hebron to inform David about all that was agreed on by Israel and the whole house of Benjamin.^{(W) 20} When Abner and twenty men came to David at Hebron, David held a banquet for him and his men.

²¹ Abner said to David, “Let me now go and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you,^(X) and you will reign over all you desire.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

²² Just then David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid and brought a large amount of plundered goods with them. Abner was not with David in Hebron because David had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and his whole army arrived, Joab was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, the king dismissed him, and he went in peace.”

²⁴ Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he’s getting away. ²⁵ You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to find out about your military activities^[d] and everything you’re doing.” ²⁶ Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well^[e] of Sirah, but David was unaware of it. ²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the city gate, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel,^[f] Joab’s brother.^(Y)

²⁸ David heard about it later and said: “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May it hang over Joab’s head and his father’s whole family, and may the house of Joab never be without someone who has a discharge or a skin disease,^(Z) or a man who can only work a spindle,^[g] or someone who falls by the sword or starves.” ³⁰ Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.^(AA)

³¹ David then ordered Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth,^(AB) and mourn over Abner.” And King David walked behind the coffin.^[h]

³² When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept, ³³ and the king sang a lament for Abner:^(AC)

And all the people wept over him even more.

³⁵ Then they came to urge David to eat food while it was still day, but David took an oath: “May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!” ^{(AD) 36} All the people took note of this, and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷ On that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸ Then the king said to his soldiers, “You must know that a great leader has fallen in Israel today. ³⁹ As for me, even though I am the anointed king, I have little power today. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me.^(AE) May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil!” ^(AF)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father.^(A) Having loved his own who were in the world,^(B) he loved them to the end.

² Now when it was time for supper, the devil^(C) had already put it into the heart of Judas,^(D) Simon Iscariot’s son,^[a] to betray^(E) him. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands,^(F) that he had come from God,^(G) and that he was going back to God.^{(H) 4} So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing,^(I) took a towel, and tied it around himself.^{(J) 5} Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

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

⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”^(L)

⁸ “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

¹⁰ “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

The Meaning of Foot Washing

¹² When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.^{(M) 15} For I have given you an example,^(N) that you also should do just as I have done for you.

¹⁶ “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,^[b](O) and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.^(P)

¹⁸ “I’m not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen.^(Q) But the Scripture^(R) must be fulfilled: ^(S) The one who eats my bread^[c] has raised his heel against me.^{[d](T) 19} I am telling you now before it happens,^(U) so that when it does happen you will believe^(V) that I am he.^{(W) 20} Truly I tell you, whoever receives anyone I send receives me, and the one who receives^(X) me receives him who sent me.”

Judas’s Betrayal Predicted

²¹ When^(Y) Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit^(Z) and testified,^(AA) “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²² The disciples started looking at one another—uncertain which one he was speaking about. ²³ One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved,^(AB) was reclining close beside Jesus.^{[e] 24} Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was he was talking about. ²⁵ So he leaned back against Jesus and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.”^(AC) When he had dipped the bread,^(AD) he gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son.^{[f] 27} After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan^(AE) entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.”

²⁸ None of those reclining at the table knew why he said this to him. ²⁹ Since Judas^(AF) kept the money-bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,”^(AG) or that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night.^(AH)

Psalm 119

Delight in God’s Word

א Aleph

ב Beth

Responses to Saul’s Death

1 After the death of Saul,^(A) David returned from defeating the Amalekites^(B) and stayed at Ziklag two days. ² On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head^(C) came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³ David asked him, “Where have you come from?”

He replied to him, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

⁴ “What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him.

“The troops fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the troops have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”^(D)

⁵ David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶ “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,”^(E) he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him. ⁷ When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service. ⁸ He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I told him: I’m an Amalekite.^{(F) 9} Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded,^[a] but my life still lingers.’^{(G) 10} So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them,^(H) and all the men with him did the same. ¹² They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening^(I) for those who died by the sword—for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel.

¹³ David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?”

“I’m the son of a resident alien,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”

¹⁴ David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ^{(J) 15} Then David summoned one of his servants and said, “Come here and kill him!” The servant struck him, and he died.^{(K) 16} For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own head^(L) because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

¹⁷ David sang the following lament^(M) for Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he ordered that the Judahites be taught The Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:^[b](N)

David, King of Judah

2 Some time later, David inquired of the Lord:^(T) “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,”^(U) the Lord replied.

² So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.^{(V) 3} In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his family, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.^{(W) 4} Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.^(X) They told David: “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”^(Y)

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you, because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. ⁶ Now, may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. ⁷ Therefore, be strong^[f] and valiant, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

⁸ Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army,^(Z) took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth^[g][h] and moved him to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel; he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. ¹¹ The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.^(AA)

Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion

²⁰ Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ So they came to Philip,^(A) who was from Bethsaida^(B) in Galilee,^(C) and requested of him, “Sir,^(D) we want to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew;^(E) then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man^(F) to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat^(G) falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.^{(H) 25} The one who loves his life will lose it,^(I) and the one who hates^(J) his life^(K) in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant^(L) also will be.^(M) If anyone serves me, the Father will honor^(N) him.

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me^(O) from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.”^[a](P)

Then a voice^(Q) came from heaven: ^(R) “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”^(S)

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰ Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you.^{(T) 31} Now is the judgment of this world.^(U) Now the ruler of this world^(V) will be cast out.^{(W) 32} As for me, if I am lifted up^[b] from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”^{(X) 33} He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.^(Y)

³⁴ Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever.^(Z) So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man^(AA) must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer.^(AB) Walk while you have the light^(AC) so that darkness doesn’t overtake you.^(AD) The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.^{(AE) 36} While you have the light,^(AF) believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.^(AG)

Isaiah’s Prophecies Fulfilled

³⁷ Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill^(AH) the word of Isaiah^(AI) the prophet, who said:^[c]

³⁹ This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because^[f] he saw his glory^(AP) and spoke about him.

⁴² Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers,^(AQ) but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. ⁴³ For they loved human praise^(AR) more than praise from God.^(AS)

A Summary of Jesus’s Mission

⁴⁴ Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me^(AT) believes not in me, but in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And the one who sees me sees him^(AU) who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep^(AV) them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world^(AW) but to save the world.^{(AX) 48} The one who rejects me^(AY) and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: ^[g] The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.^{(AZ) 49} For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father^(BA) himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. ⁵⁰ I know that his command is eternal life.^(BB) So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”^(BC)

Philistines Reject David

29 The Philistines^(A) brought all their military units together at Aphek^(B) while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.^{(C) 2} As the Philistine leaders were passing in review with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men^(D) were passing in review behind them with Achish. ³ Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time.^[a] From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”^(E)

⁴ The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him.^(F) He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle.^(G) What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men? ⁵ Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances:

⁶ So Achish summoned David and told him, “As the Lord lives, you are an honorable man. I think it is good^[b] to have you fighting^[c] in this unit with me, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until today.^(I) But the leaders don’t think you are reliable. ⁷ Now go back quietly and you won’t be doing anything the Philistine leaders think is wrong.”

⁸ “But what have I done?” ^(J) David replied to Achish. “From the first day I entered your service until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹ Achish answered David, “I’m convinced that you are as reliable as an angel of God.^(K) But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’^{(L) 10} So get up early in the morning, you and your masters’ servants who came with you.^[d](M) When you’ve all gotten up early, go as soon as it’s light.” ¹¹ So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s Defeat of the Amalekites

30 David and his men^(N) arrived in Ziklag^(O) on the third day. The Amalekites^(P) had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag. ² They also had kidnapped the women and everyone^[e] in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off^(Q) as they went on their way.

³ When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped. ⁴ David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep. ⁵ David’s two wives,^(R) Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped. ⁶ David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him,^(S) for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.^(T)

⁷ David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”^(U) So Abiathar brought it to him, ⁸ and David asked the Lord:^(V) “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” ^(W)

The Lord replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”^(X)

⁹ So David and the six hundred men with him^(Y) went. They came to the Wadi Besor, where some stayed behind.^{(Z) 10} David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

¹¹ David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink. ¹² Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived,^(AA) for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³ Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?”

“I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago. ¹⁴ We raided the south country of the Cherethites,^(AB) the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb,^(AC) and we burned Ziklag.”^(AD)

¹⁵ David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?”

He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶ So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder^(AE) they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day.^(AF) None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.^(AG)

¹⁸ David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.^{(AH) 20} He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!” ^(AI)

²¹ When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor,^(AJ) they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them, ²² but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³ But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the Lord has given us. He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us. ²⁴ Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally.”^{(AK) 25} And it has been so from that day forward. David established this policy^[f] as a law and an ordinance for Israel and it still continues today.

²⁶ When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you^(AL) from the plunder of the Lord’s enemies.”^{(AM) 27} He sent gifts^[g] to those in Bethel,^(AN) in Ramoth of the Negev,^(AO) and in Jattir;^{(AP) 28} to those in Aroer,^(AQ) in Siphmoth,^(AR) and in Eshtemoa;^{(AS) 29} to those in Racal, in the towns of the Jerahmeelites,^(AT) and in the towns of the Kenites;^{(AU) 30} to those in Hormah,^(AV) in Bor-ashan,^(AW) and in Athach; ³¹ to those in Hebron,^(AX) and to those in all the places where David and his men had roamed.^(AY)

The Death of Saul and His Sons

31 The Philistines fought against Israel,^(AZ) and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa.^{(BA) 2} The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ When the battle intensified against Saul,^(BB) the archers found him and severely wounded him.^{[h] 4} Then Saul said to his armor-bearer,^(BC) “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men^(BD) will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.^{(BE) 5} When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. ⁶ So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men.

⁷ When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸ The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news^(BF) in the temples of their idols^(BG) and among the people. ¹⁰ Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths^(BH) and hung his body^(BI) on the wall of Beth-shan.^(BJ)

¹¹ When the residents of Jabesh-gilead^(BK) heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their brave men^(BL) set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.^{(BM) 13} Afterward, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree^(BN) in Jabesh^(BO) and fasted seven days.

⁵⁵ Now the Jewish Passover^(A) was near, and many went up to Jerusalem^(B) from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple:^(C) “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival,^(D) will he?” ⁵⁷ The chief priests^(E) and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.

The Anointing at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany^(F) where Lazarus^[a] was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.^{(G) 2} So^(H) they gave a dinner for him there; Martha^(I) was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.^(J) So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot^(K) (who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii^[b](L) and given to the poor?” ⁶ He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.^(M) He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.^{(N) 8} For you always have the poor with you,^(O) but you do not always have me.”

The Decision to Kill Lazarus

⁹ Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.^{(P) 10} But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, ¹¹ because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them^[c] and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The^(Q) next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ they took palm branches^(R) and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey^(V) and sat on it, just as it is written:

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him^(Y) and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb^(Z) and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.^{[f] 18} This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!” ^(AA)

Psalm 118

Thanksgiving for Victory

David Again Spares Saul

26 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”^{(A) 2} So Saul, accompanied by three thousand of the fit young men of Israel,^(B) went immediately to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there. ³ Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah^(C) opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.^{(D) 4} So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come. ⁵ Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner,^(E) the commander of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him. ⁶ Then David asked Ahimelech the Hethite^(F) and Joab’s brother Abishai^(G) son of Zeruiah, “Who will go with me into the camp^(H) to Saul?”

“I’ll go with you,” answered Abishai.

⁷ That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him. ⁸ Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be innocent?” ^{(I) 10} David added, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will certainly strike him down:^(J) either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. ¹¹ However, because of the Lord, I will never lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed.^(K) Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let’s go.”

¹² So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord^(L) came over them. ¹³ David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them. ¹⁴ Then David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner: “Aren’t you going to answer, Abner?”

“Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner asked.

¹⁵ David called to Abner, “You’re a man, aren’t you? Who in Israel is your equal? So why didn’t you protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him? ¹⁶ What you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all of you deserve to die^[a] since you didn’t protect your lord, the Lord’s anointed.^(M) Now look around; where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?” ^(N)

“It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said. ¹⁸ Then he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What crime have I committed?^{(O) 19} Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his servant: If it is the Lord who has incited you against me,^(P) then may he accept an offering.^(Q) But if it is people,^(R) may they be cursed in the presence of the Lord, for today they have banished me from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord saying,^(S) ‘Go and worship other gods.’ ²⁰ So don’t let my blood fall to the ground far from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea,^(T) like one who pursues a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹ Saul responded, “I have sinned.^(U) Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”

²² David answered, “Here is the king’s spear; have one of the young men come over and get it. ²³ The Lord will repay every man for his righteousness^(V) and his loyalty. I wasn’t willing to lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed, even though the Lord handed you over to me today.^{(W) 24} Just as I considered your life valuable today, so may the Lord consider my life valuable^(X) and rescue me from all trouble.”^(Y)

²⁵ Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.”^(Z) Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.^(AA)

David Flees to Ziklag

27 David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines.^(AB) Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.” ² So David set out with his six hundred men^(AC) and went over to Achish son of Maoch,^(AD) the king of Gath. ³ David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him,^(AE) and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel,^(AF) Nabal’s widow. ⁴ When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵ Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶ That day Achish gave Ziklag^(AG) to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today. ⁷ The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.^(AH)

⁸ David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites,^(AI) the Girzites,^[b] and the Amalekites.^(AJ) From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur^(AK) as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing.^(AL) Then he came back to Achish, ¹⁰ who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” ^[c](AM)

David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,”^(AN) or “The south country of the Kenites.”^(AO)

¹¹ David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory. ¹² So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

Saul and the Medium

28 At that time, the Philistines^(AP) gathered their military units into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army^[d] with me.”

² David replied to Achish, “Good, you will find out what your servant can do.”

So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.”^(AQ)

³ By this time Samuel had died,^(AR) all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city,^(AS) and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.^{(AT) 4} The Philistines gathered and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and his heart pounded. ⁶ He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.^{(AU) 7} Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor^(AV) who is a medium.”^(AW)

⁸ Saul disguised himself^(AX) by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me.^(AY) Bring up for me the one I tell you.”^(AZ)

⁹ But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done,^(BA) how he has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?”

¹⁰ Then Saul swore to her by the Lord: “As surely as the Lord lives, no punishment will come to you^[e] from this.”

¹¹ “Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked.

“Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered.

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

¹³ But the king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”

“I see a spirit form^[f] coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.

¹⁴ Then Saul asked her, “What does he look like?”

“An old man is coming up,” she replied. “He’s wearing a robe.”^(BB) Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.^(BC)

¹⁵ “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul.

“I’m in serious trouble,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me.^(BD) He doesn’t answer me anymore,^(BE) either through the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what I should do.”

¹⁶ Samuel answered, “Since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me? ¹⁷ The Lord has done^[g] exactly what he said through me: The Lord has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.^{(BF) 18} You did not obey the Lord and did not carry out his burning anger against Amalek;^(BG) therefore the Lord has done this to you today. ¹⁹ The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me,^[h](BH) and the Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

²⁰ Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was terrified by Samuel’s words and was also weak because he had not eaten anything all day and all night. ²¹ The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands^(BI) and did what you told me to do. ²² Now please listen to your servant. Let me set some food in front of you. Eat and it will give you strength so you can go on your way.”

²³ He refused, saying, “I won’t eat,” but when his servants and the woman urged him, he listened to them.^(BJ) He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.^(BK)

²⁴ The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it.^(BL) She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread. ²⁵ She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterward, they got up and left that night.

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

11 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany,^(A) the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{(B) 2} Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair,^(C) and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. ³ So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God,^(D) so that the Son of God^(E) may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea^(F) again.”

⁸ “Rabbi,”^(G) the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you,^(H) and you’re going there again?”

⁹ “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.^{(I) 10} But if anyone walks during the night,^(J) he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

¹¹ He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,^(K) but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

¹² Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

¹³ Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. ¹⁵ I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas^(L) (called “Twin”^[a]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

The Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb^(M) four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem^(N) (less than two miles^[b] away). ¹⁹ Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

²⁰ As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ²² Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

²³ “Your brother will rise^(O) again,” Jesus told her.

²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”^(P)

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am^(Q) the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me,^(R) even if he dies, will live.^{(S) 26} Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.^(T) Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah,^(U) the Son^(V) of God, who comes into the world.”^(W)

Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death

²⁸ Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

²⁹ As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.^{(X) 30} Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb^(Y) to cry there.

³² As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet^(Z) and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved^[c] in his spirit^(AA) and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” he asked.

“Lord,” they told him, “come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus wept.^(AB)

³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved^(AC) him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes^(AD) also have kept this man from dying?”

The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.^{(AE) 39} “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory^(AF) of God?”^(AG)

⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank^(AH) you that you heard me.^{(AI) 42} I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent^(AJ) me.” ⁴³ After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.^{(AK) 46} But some of them went to the Pharisees^(AL) and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin^(AM) and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans^(AN) will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

⁴⁹ One of them, Caiaphas,^(AO) who was high priest^(AP) that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You’re not considering that it is to your^[d] advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”^{(AQ) 51} He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die^(AR) for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children^(AS) of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they plotted to kill him.^(AT)

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer walked openly^(AU) among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness,^(AV) to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

Psalm 117

Universal Call to Praise

David Spares Saul

24 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines,^(A) he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.”^{(B) 2} So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men^(C) and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself.^[a](D) David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave,^{(E) 4} so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David’s conscience bothered^[b](F) him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.^{[c] 6} He said to his men, “I swear before the Lord: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed.^(G) I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”^{(H) 7} With these words David persuaded^[d] his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.

Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. ⁸ After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.^{(I) 9} David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? ¹⁰ You can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave.^(J) Someone advised me to kill you,^(K) but I^[e][f] took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the Lord’s anointed. ¹¹ Look, my father!^(L) Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize^[g] that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.^(M)

¹² “May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.^{(N) 13} As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’^(O) My hand will never be against you. ¹⁴ Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea?^{(P) 15} May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver^[h] me from you.”^(Q)

¹⁶ When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” ^(R) Then Saul wept aloud ¹⁷ and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you.^{(S) 18} You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me.^{(T) 19} When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?^[i](U) May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

²⁰ “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established^[j] in your hand.^{(V) 21} Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”^{(W) 22} So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.^(X)

David, Nabal, and Abigail

25 Samuel died,^(Y) and all Israel assembled to mourn for him,^(Z) and they buried him by his home in Ramah.^(AA) David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.^[k](AB)

² A man in Maon^(AC) had a business in Carmel;^(AD) he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite,^(AE) was harsh and evil in his dealings.

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, ⁵ so David sent ten young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him^[l] in my name. ⁶ Then say this: ‘Long life to you,^[m] and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.^{(AF) 7} I hear that you are shearing.^[n] When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.^{(AG) 8} Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast^[o] day.^(AH) Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf,^[p] and they waited.^{[q] 10} Nabal asked them, “Who is David?^(AI) Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. ¹¹ Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”

¹² David’s young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words. ¹³ He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^(AJ)

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,^(AK) but he screamed at them. ¹⁵ The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed^(AL) and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them. ¹⁶ They were a wall around us, both day and night,^(AM) the entire time we were with them herding the sheep. ¹⁷ Now consider carefully^[r] what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”

¹⁸ Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel^[s] of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{(AN) 19} Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.”^(AO) But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them. ²¹ David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good. ²² May God punish me^[t] and do so severely^(AP) if I let any of his males^[u] survive until morning.”^(AQ)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.^{(AR) 24} She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant. ²⁵ My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name:^[v] His name means ‘stupid,’ and stupidity is all he knows.^[w] I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent. ²⁶ Now my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live— it is the Lord who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself^(AS) by your own hand—may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.^{(AT) 27} Let this gift^(AU) your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offense,^(AV) for the Lord is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord^(AW) because he fights the Lord’s battles.^(AX) Throughout your life, may evil^[x] not be found in you.^(AY)

²⁹ “Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord’s life is tucked safely in the place^[y] where the Lord your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ lives like stones from a sling.^{(AZ) 30} When the Lord does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,^{(BA) 31} there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the Lord does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”^(BB)

³² Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,^(BC) who sent you to meet me today! ³³ May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.^{(BD) 34} Otherwise, as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males^[z] left by morning light.” ³⁵ Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace.^(BE) See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”^(BF)

³⁶ Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king.^(BG) Nabal’s heart was cheerful,^[aa] and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything^[ab] to him^(BH) until morning light.

³⁷ In the morning when Nabal sobered up,^[ac] his wife told him about these events. His heart died^[ad] and he became a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal dead.^(BI)

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who championed my cause against Nabal’s insults^(BJ) and restrained his servant from doing evil.^(BK) The Lord brought Nabal’s evil deeds back on his own head.”^(BL)

Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to bring you to him as a wife.”

⁴¹ She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground,^(BM) and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”^{(BN) 42} Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers.^(BO) And so she became his wife.

⁴³ David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel,^(BP) and the two of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti^(BQ) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(BR)

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

²² Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.^{(A) 24} The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?^[a] If you are the Messiah,^(B) tell us plainly.”^[b](C)

²⁵ “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works^(D) that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. ²⁶ But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.^{[c](E) 27} My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life,^(F) and they will never perish.^(G) No one will snatch^(H) them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father,^(I) who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”^(J)

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.^(K)

³² Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works^(L) from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

³³ “We aren’t stoning^(M) you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law,^[d] I said, you are gods?^{[e](N) 35} If he called those whom the word^(O) of God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture^(P) cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?^{(Q) 37} If I am not doing my Father’s works,^(R) don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand^[f] that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”^{(S) 39} Then they were trying again to seize him,^(T) but he eluded their grasp.^(U)

Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus

⁴⁰ So he departed again across the Jordan^(V) to the place where John^(W) had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹ Many came to him^(X) and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many believed in him there.

Psalm 116

Thanks to God for Deliverance

22 That is how David escaped, and from there, he went to the cave of Adullam to hide. When his brothers and the rest of his family heard he was there, they went down to be with him. ² A group gathered around him, composed of those who were in debt or who were not content with Saul or who were in trouble. Soon David was captain of about 400 such men.

³ David traveled then to Mizpah in Moab, the homeland of his great-grandmother, Ruth, to address the king of Moab.

⁴ So David left his parents there, and they remained with the king of Moab as long as David remained in the stronghold.

⁵ David was visited later by Gad the prophet.

So David left that place and went into the forest of Hereth.

⁶ Meanwhile Saul was sitting, spear in hand, under a gnarled and bushy tamarisk tree on the crest of a high hill in Gibeah. His servants were standing around him when he heard the news that David and his followers had been located.

⁹ Doeg the Edomite stood among Saul’s servants.

¹¹ So the king sent for the priest Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and for all his family who were the priests at Nob, and they came before Saul.

The king turned to his guards.

But the servants of the king refused to attack the priests of the Eternal. Saul was furious, so he turned to one he could trust.

So Doeg the Edomite attacked them. That day he turned and killed 85 men who wore the priestly linen garment. ¹⁹ Then he went after Nob, the city of the priests, with his sword and utterly destroyed everything he found there—all the men, women, children, and infants. Doeg even turned his blade against the oxen, donkeys, and sheep. ²⁰ Only Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, escaped, and he fled to David for protection. ²¹ He informed David that Saul had massacred the priests of the Eternal.

23 When David heard that the Philistines had attacked Keilah, ransacking the threshing floors and stealing the grain, ² he prayed and asked God for guidance.

⁴ So David asked the Eternal again just to make sure.

⁵ So David and his men went down to Keilah and fought the Philistines, carried away their livestock, and slaughtered them. This is how David saved the people of Keilah.

⁶ When Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, came to David at Keilah, he had fled carrying a sacred priestly garment. ⁷ When Saul heard that David had gone to rescue Keilah, he was hopeful.

⁸ So Saul summoned the people to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹ When David heard that Saul was coming to attack him, he asked Abiathar to bring him the priestly vest so that he could ask the True God for direction.

¹³ So David and his followers, who now numbered about 600, left Keilah going wherever they could. When Saul heard that David had left Keilah, he gave up the chase because the trail was now cold. ¹⁴ David hid out in secure places in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph in the land of the tribe of Judah. Every day, Saul sent out spies to find him and kill him, but the True God did not allow Saul to capture or kill David.

¹⁵ While David was in the wilderness of Ziph at a place called Horesh, he heard that Saul was looking for him. ¹⁶ Then Jonathan, son of Saul, figured out where David was and went out to meet him at Horesh. Although David and his men were in a tight spot, Jonathan reassured David’s faith in the True God.

¹⁸ Then the two of them made a sacred covenant before the Eternal One. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan returned to his home.

¹⁹ At that time, some of the people of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and told him David was hiding in some of the secure places at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah to the south of Jeshimon.

²⁴ They set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Meanwhile David and his followers were hiding in the wilderness of Maon, in the desert plain^[a] to the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to search for them, David found out and went to the rock in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ At one point, Saul and his men were on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other. David and his men picked up the pace, trying to escape, but Saul and his forces were closing in fast and hoped to capture them.

²⁷ Then a messenger arrived and spoke to Saul.

²⁸ So Saul stopped his pursuit of David and went to fight the Philistines, which is why that place is known as the Rock of Escape.

²⁹ From there David went up and lived in the narrow canyons and cliffs of Engedi.