2 Samuel 21 Cross References - MSB

¹ During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.” ² At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.) ³ So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” ⁴ The Gibeonites said to him, “We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us.” “Whatever you ask, I will do for you,” he replied. ⁵ And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,” said the king. ⁷ Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹ And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest. ¹⁰ And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ When David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, had done, ¹² he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa. ¹³ So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, along with the bones of those who had been hanged. ¹⁴ And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land. ¹⁵ Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.” ¹⁸ Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. ¹⁹ Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, ²¹ and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him. ²² So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

¹ Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

⁵⁷ And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

¹ Now the famine was still severe in the land.

¹⁹ I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, ²⁰ and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

²⁶ When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.

²¹ He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”

¹ The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.

¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. ¹² This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.

¹⁷ Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD. ¹⁸ So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹ He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

² So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

⁴ Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” “He will,” said the LORD.

¹⁹ So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go,” replied the LORD, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

²³ So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria,

²⁵ So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.

¹ Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”

⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— ⁹ the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. ¹⁰ He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.

² I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

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

¹⁵ When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

¹ This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ² “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. ³ The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. ⁴ The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. ⁵ Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. ⁶ Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.” ⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You. ⁸ O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night? ⁹ Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us! ¹⁰ This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their guilt and call their sins to account.” ¹¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. ¹² Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.” ¹³ “Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” ¹⁴ “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end! ¹⁶ And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them. ¹⁷ You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound. ¹⁸ If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁶ You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

³ But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴ acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. ⁵ They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy. ⁶ They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.” ⁷ But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?” ⁸ “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?” ⁹ “Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’ ¹² This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But take a look, it is now dry and moldy. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.” ¹⁴ Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not seek the counsel of the LORD. ¹⁵ And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. ¹⁶ Three days after they had made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites learned that they were neighbors, living among them. ¹⁷ So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders. ¹⁹ All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.

⁴⁴ And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”

⁸ He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword. ⁹ Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.

¹⁶ saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.

³¹ Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

⁵⁴ When His disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them, just as Elijah did?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are.

² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

² For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.

¹⁷ Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

⁴ He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

²⁵ If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.

¹⁹ Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

¹⁹ I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

²² According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. ⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’” ⁸ In the passage above He says, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). ⁹ Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.

⁶ They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. ⁷ No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God. ⁸ For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

¹ During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them. ²⁵ But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.

² For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

²² But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

²² If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

²⁹ He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

²⁶ After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.

¹⁶ “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule over My people.”

¹ Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

¹⁰ When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

¹¹ I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense.

¹⁰ They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹³ Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” ¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

⁵ So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

²¹ Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.

³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁸ Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”

¹⁵ and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁷ And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

⁴² And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

¹⁸ So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

⁴ And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

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.”

¹⁰ You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

⁴ So the king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” “I humbly bow before you,” said Ziba. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king!”

²⁵ And he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, who asked him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?”

¹⁹ So when it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.

⁷ Meanwhile, Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

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. ³⁴ Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

¹ If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities. ³ Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work, ⁴ bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream. ⁵ And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault. ⁶ Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken, ⁷ and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. ⁸ Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. ⁹ So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

²² So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

³³ But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

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.

²¹ But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD,

⁶ let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,” said the king.

³ Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, ⁴ and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

¹⁴ then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.

¹³ and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

²³ you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁴⁴ “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹ And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees. ⁴³ “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” ⁴⁴ On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” ⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.

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

²⁴ They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’ ²⁵ Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

²² Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

⁴ On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.

³ So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

¹⁸ How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

²³ Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

¹ Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before. ¹² May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

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.”

¹¹ Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

⁴ The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan. ¹¹ When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

⁶ “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.

²¹ O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

⁵ So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. ⁶ Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this. ⁷ Now then, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

²⁷ He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” ²⁸ The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead. ²⁹ Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

¹³ It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

²⁶ And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

²⁸ Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

² When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

³² When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.

¹² So David commanded his 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 the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

²⁵ And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

⁴⁰ Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there. ⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”

¹ This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ² “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. ³ The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. ⁴ The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. ⁵ Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. ⁶ Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.” ⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

¹⁸ Then the LORD became jealous for His land, and He spared His people. ¹⁹ And the LORD answered His people: “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and by them you will be satisfied. I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.

¹ This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up. ² And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” ³ So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said. ⁴ This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵ Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” ⁶ So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

⁸ Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Behold, those going to the land of the north have given rest to My Spirit in the land of the north.”

¹⁰ Now behold, as the LORD promised, He has kept me alive these forty-five years since He spoke this word to Moses, while Israel wandered in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old, ¹¹ still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. As my strength was then, so it is now for war, for going out, and for coming in.

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went down to the stronghold.

²² Once again the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

²⁵ So David did as the LORD had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

⁴ Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.

⁹ Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.

¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

³ on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly,

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. ²⁹ He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

²³ This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. ²⁴ But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.

²⁴ For, “All flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

⁵ In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

³² So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. ³³ We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”

²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

¹⁰ (The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

²¹ They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

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.)

² The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”

⁴ Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height, ⁵ and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,

⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” ⁴⁸ As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. ⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. ⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁸ Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

²⁰ And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,

²² So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

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.”

³ But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will pay no attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better for now if you support us from the city.”

⁶ And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.” ⁷ So Joab’s men, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, marched out of Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. ⁸ And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath. ⁹ “Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. ¹⁰ Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁹ They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.

²⁹ For You, O LORD, are my lamp; the LORD lights up my darkness.

³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.

⁴ Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong.

¹ For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.

¹⁷ There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.

¹⁰ to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.

⁸ He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. ⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.

³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

¹⁶ Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David.

²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

⁴ Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued. ⁵ Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, ⁷ and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him. ⁸ So these descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

¹¹ The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite, a Zerahite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

⁴ Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height, ⁵ and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels, ⁶ and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him. ⁸ And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. ⁹ If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and labor for us.” ¹⁰ Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!” ¹¹ On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.

²⁶ Now these were the mighty men: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

⁵ Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,

⁹ Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

³ The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.

¹⁰ Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

²⁵ Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.” ²⁶ David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

³⁶ Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

¹³ Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

¹³ Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third,

³² David’s uncle Jonathan was a counselor; he was a man of insight and a scribe. Jehiel son of Hachmoni attended to the sons of the king.

¹² Now therefore give me this hill country that the LORD promised me on that day, for you yourself heard then that the Anakim were there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps with the LORD’s help I will drive them out, as the LORD has spoken.”

⁸ So these descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

¹² With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.

¹³ With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.

¹⁵ Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!

¹¹ I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

²³ This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.