2 Samuel 12 Cross References - BSB

¹ Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.” ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. ¹² You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.” ¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied. ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹ “What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.” ²² David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” ²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him. ²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress. ²⁷ Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. ²⁸ Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; and he fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city. ³¹ David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

⁷ When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you. ⁸ One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the grapevine replied, ‘Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹ After the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ² he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” ³ And Nathan replied to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” ⁴ But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?

¹⁷ So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire vision.

¹⁰ And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” ¹¹ Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” ¹² “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home. ¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” ¹⁶ So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. ¹⁷ And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.

²⁵ Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”

⁵ “What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead. ⁶ And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed. Then we will cut off the heir as well!’ So they would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the earth.” ⁸ “Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.” ⁹ But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.” ¹⁰ “If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!” ¹¹ “Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

¹⁴ For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

¹¹ When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: ¹² “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” ¹³ So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

¹ Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.

¹ After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”

³⁵ Meanwhile, by the word of the LORD, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me, please!” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you depart from me a lion will kill you.” And when he left, a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then the prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please!” So the man struck him and wounded him, ³⁸ and the prophet went and waited on the road for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰ But while your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.” And the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you have pronounced it on yourself.” ⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

³ But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. ⁵ Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. ⁶ Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. ⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹ Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. ¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. ¹⁶ For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. ¹⁸ In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

¹ I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ² He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour! ³ “And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. ⁴ What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit? ⁵ Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. ⁶ I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.” ⁷ For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.

¹⁷ I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart. ¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

³³ Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. ³⁴ When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing. ¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹ The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate. ²⁵ Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ ‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours. ³² But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. ²⁰ And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’ ²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ ‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’ ³⁰ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

² And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel; ³ his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; ⁴ his fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; his fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital; ⁵ and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.

¹³ After he had 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 the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

¹⁶ Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

³ and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

³ So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: ¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

⁵ Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

² And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. ³ “My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.” ⁷ Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

³ So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”

³⁹ As surely as the LORD who saves Israel lives, even if it is my son Jonathan, he must die!” But not one of the troops said a word.

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”

²¹ Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

¹⁶ This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

¹ “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

³¹ Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹³ “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

¹⁷ And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel

¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

¹¹ and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

²¹ “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”

¹⁰ Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night. ¹¹ Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” ¹² So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped. ¹³ Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. ¹⁴ When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.” ¹⁵ But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.”

⁷ When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”

¹⁴ And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.

²⁶ Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. ²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!” ²⁸ So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth.

⁸ Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

¹ And David sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

⁴⁹ who frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.

¹⁸ “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.

⁴² And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”

¹⁹ Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” ²⁰ When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹ For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.

¹⁴ When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁹ So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

⁴ Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

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.

¹⁹ And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord GOD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD?

⁷ “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.

²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

¹⁵ But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

³² He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

⁵ And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man: ⁶ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

¹³ You shall not murder. ¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

³⁰ But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹ He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.”

²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” ¹⁶ So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. ¹⁷ And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Joab sent to David a full account of the battle ¹⁹ and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle, ²⁰ if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? ²¹ Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’” ²² So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.” ²⁵ Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.” ²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

⁶ He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

²⁴ Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁰ and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.

⁴ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

³ One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

³⁰ Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

²⁸ Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!” ²⁹ So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had ordered. Then all the other sons of the king got up, and each one fled on his mule.

¹⁴ But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

³³ The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

²³ Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life. ²⁴ And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

³² He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. ³³ Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.

⁹ The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.”

⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ ⁷ By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

²⁴ No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

⁸ Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.

³⁰ You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

¹ After some time, David’s son Amnon fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of David’s son Absalom. ² Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her. ³ Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man, ⁴ so he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” ⁵ Jonadab told him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare it in my sight so I may watch her and eat it from her hand.’” ⁶ So Amnon lay down and feigned illness. When the king came to see him, Amnon said, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.” ⁷ Then David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare a meal for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked them. ⁹ Then she brought the pan and set it down before him, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone away!” said Amnon. And everyone went out. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat it from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom. ¹¹ And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!” ¹² “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! ¹³ Where could I ever take my shame? And you would be like one of the fools in Israel! Please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴ But Amnon refused to listen to her, and being stronger, he violated her and lay with her.

⁶ Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

²¹ Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

⁹ But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

²⁵ I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. ²⁶ And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.

¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. ¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. ⁵ And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” ⁶ At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war. ⁸ Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” ¹¹ Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” ¹² “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home. ¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”

²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹ In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

¹⁷ And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.

³¹ You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. ³² Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ³³ Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

²⁰ “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”

³⁰ “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

¹⁰ After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

⁴ Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.

²⁰ When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁹ Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’” ²¹ But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD. ²² Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You? ²¹ Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

²⁷ Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.

¹ Of David. A Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ² Blessed is the man whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah ⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

¹⁶ For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

³ If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand? ⁴ But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

¹² Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.

¹³ He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

⁵ Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

¹⁷ Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

²⁴ You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

²² I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

³² Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

⁴ So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.

¹⁰ and sent to have John beheaded in the prison.

²¹ The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

²⁶ Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?

¹⁰ How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

³¹ if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments, ³² I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes. ³³ But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.

¹² Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,

¹¹ My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; ¹² for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.

⁵ And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.

²⁰ And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ ²¹ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone. ²² Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. ²³ I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

² “Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

⁷ Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”

¹⁹ Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

³⁹ See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

³⁸ About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

¹⁰ David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

⁵ And the LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, so that he lived in a separate house while his son Jotham had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.

²⁰ Jeroboam did not again recover his power during the days of Abijah, and the LORD struck him down and he died.

²⁹ When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²² David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’

³¹ Then the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.

¹⁶ “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

¹² Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, ¹³ though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, ¹⁴ yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁰ I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

¹⁶ O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” ¹³ So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster. ¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

⁹ For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.

²³ Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

³⁵ Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

¹⁵ how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

³ Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

¹⁷ So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

¹⁸ Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

²⁰ Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

¹⁰ “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

⁹ I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

⁸ Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

³⁹ Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins? ⁴⁰ Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁵ The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

¹ In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

¹⁴ Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

¹⁵ Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

⁶ The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” ¹⁰ When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

⁹ Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

³⁵ All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

⁸ The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. ⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. ¹⁰ He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.

²³ Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

⁵ and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

⁹ But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign. ¹⁰ He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

⁵ And of all my sons—for the LORD has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. ⁶ And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.

¹ Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

⁴ But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

¹ Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.” ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. ¹² You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it?

²³ So the king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” And Nathan went in and bowed facedown before the king.

²⁶ Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

⁵ While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

¹¹ (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

¹ In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it. ² Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city. ³ David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

¹ In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

²⁰ Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

¹⁸ He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.

² Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

² David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

³ David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You. ⁹ You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

³ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.