The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday May 24, 2023 (NIV)

2 Samuel 4-6

The Death of Ishbosheth

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

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. The Be’erothites fled to Gittaim. They have lived there as aliens until the present time.)

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]

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. ⎣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. 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.

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.”

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

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They said, “Look, we are your flesh and blood.[d] 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.’”

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. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled as king for forty years. 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

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.’” Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, which became the City of David.

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.”

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

David once again gathered all of the thirty thousand specially chosen men of Israel. 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.”

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 ⎣⎦[k] with the Ark of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Footnotes:

  1. 2 Samuel 4:2 The stop mark ′ is inserted into some Hebrew names as a pronunciation guide. The double vowel should not be read as one syllable, Bay-nah, but as two syllables, Bay-a-nah.
  2. 2 Samuel 4:4 His name was originally Meribbaal or Memphibaal, but the books of Samuel substitute -bosheth, which means shame, for -baal in personal names. See 1 Chronicles 8:33-34.
  3. 2 Samuel 4:6 The sentence in half-brackets is not included in the Hebrew text but appears in the Greek Old Testament.
  4. 2 Samuel 5:1 Literally your bone and flesh
  5. 2 Samuel 5:8 The meaning of this term is uncertain.
  6. 2 Samuel 5:9 Millo appears to be derived from the Hebrew word for fill. It probably refers to the stone rampart that supported the palace area.
  7. 2 Samuel 5:20 Baal Perazim means lord of breakthroughs.
  8. 2 Samuel 5:23 The identification of the trees is uncertain. Other suggestions are mulberry trees, aspens, or mastic trees.
  9. 2 Samuel 5:25 The reading Gibeon is supported by the Greek Old Testament, by the parallel text in 1 Chronicles 14:16, and by the geography of the campaign. The reading of the Hebrew text is Geba.
  10. 2 Samuel 6:2 Also called Baalah Judah. It is another name for Kiriath Jearim.
  11. 2 Samuel 6:4 At the point marked by half-brackets, the main Hebrew text has additional words: They brought it with the Ark of God out of Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. These words seem to be an accidental duplication from verse 3. Some Hebrew and Greek manuscripts do not include these words.
  12. 2 Samuel 6:5 Literally woods of fir trees. Such instruments are not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament.
  13. 2 Samuel 6:5 Or sistrums. A sistrum is a loop with metal rattlers on it. It is played like a tambourine.
  14. 2 Samuel 6:8 Perez Uzzah means outburst against Uzzah.
  15. 2 Samuel 6:12 Some manuscripts of the ancient versions add a sentence here: And David said, “I will bring back the blessing to my house.”
  16. 2 Samuel 6:14 Hebrew ephod. The ephod was usually a vest-like garment for priests.
  17. 2 Samuel 6:19 The meaning of the term is uncertain.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

John 13:31-14:14

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. 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] 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. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. If you know me, you would also know my Father.[e] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

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

“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.

Footnotes:

  1. John 13:31 Or Now the Son of Man was glorified, and God was glorified in him.
  2. John 13:32 Some witnesses to the text omit If God is glorified in him.
  3. John 14:2 Or dwelling places, referring to permanent residences
  4. John 14:2 Some witnesses to the text read If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you?
  5. John 14:7 Some witnesses to the text read If you have known me, you will also know my Father.
  6. John 14:11 Some witnesses to the text add me.
  7. John 14:14 Some witnesses to the text omit me.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 119:17-32

Gimel: Open My Eyes

17 Reward your servant.
Then I will live, and I will keep your words.
18 Uncover my eyes, and I will behold wonders from your law.
19 I am an alien on earth.
Do not hide your commandments from me.
20 My soul is overwhelmed by desire for your judgments at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed,
those who stray from your commandments.
22 Remove scorn and contempt from me,
for I guard your testimonies.
23 Though officials sit together and speak against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Yes, your testimonies are my delights.
They are my advisors.

Dalet: A Changed Heart

25 My soul[a] is stuck in the dust.
Revive my life according to your words.
26 I told you about my ways and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27 Make me understand the meaning of your precepts.
Then I will meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul melts with sorrow.
By your words make me stand firm.
29 Turn me away from false ways,
and be gracious to me through your law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth.
I accept[b] your judgments.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord.
Do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run the way of your commandments,
for you have strengthened my heart.[c]

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 119:25 In the Old Testament my soul is a more emotional way of saying I or me.
  2. Psalm 119:30 Or I set before me
  3. Psalm 119:32 Or you increased my understanding or you motivated me. Literally you made my heart wide.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 15:31-32

31 An ear that listens to a life-giving warning
will find a home among the wise.
32 A person who ignores discipline despises himself,
but a person who listens to a warning acquires good sense.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.