2 Samuel 12 Cross References - ISV

¹ so the LORD sent Nathan to David.
Nathan’s RebukeNathan approached David and said, “There are two men in the city. One is rich and one is poor. ² The rich man has many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except for one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It used to share his food and drink from his own cup. It even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. ⁴ A traveler arrived to visit the rich man. Because he was unwilling to take an animal from one of his own flocks or herds to prepare for the guest who had come to visit him, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to visit him.”
⁵ David flew into a rage at the man and told Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He will restore the lamb four times its value, because he did this thing, and because he did it without compassion.”
⁷ But Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says:
“‘I anointed you king—and you became king over Israel.
“‘I delivered you from Saul’s control.
⁸ “‘I gave you your former master’s household.
“‘I placed your former master’s wives right in your arms.
“‘I gave you Israel and Judah.
“‘And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!
⁹ “‘Why did you despise what the LORD has promised by doing what is detestable in his sight?
“‘You struck down Uriah the Hittite with a battle sword.
“‘You took his wife to be your own.
“‘You killed him with the sword of the Ammonite army.
¹⁰ “‘Therefore the sword will never leave your household, because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
¹¹ “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Listen very carefully!
“‘I’m raising up evil against you right out of your own household.
“‘I’m going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes.
“‘Then I’ll give them to your neighbor.
“‘And then he’s going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!
¹² “‘What you did in secret I’m going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!’”
¹³ At this point, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan responded to David, “There’s one other thing: the LORD has forgiven your sin. You won’t die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because you have despised the LORD’s enemies with utter contempt, the son born to you will most certainly die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.
David’s Infant Son DiesAfter this, the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife had born to David, and the child became very ill. ¹⁶ David begged God on behalf of the youngster. He fasted, went inside, and spent the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷ His closest advisors at the palace got up, remained with him, and tried to help him get up from the ground, but he would not do so. He also wouldn’t eat with them.
¹⁸ A week later, the child died, and David’s staff was afraid to tell him that the child had died. They were telling themselves, “Look, when the child was still alive, we talked to him but he wouldn’t listen to what we said. Now what kind of trouble will he bring on himself if we tell him that the child has died?”
¹⁹ But as David observed his staff whispering together, he perceived that the child had died, so he asked his staff, “Is the child dead?”
They replied, “He has died.”
²⁰ At this, David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the LORD’s tent to worship. Then he went back to his palace where, at his request, they served him food and he ate.
²¹ His staff asked him, “What’s this about? When the child was alive, you fasted and cried. Now that the child has died, you get up and eat!”
²² He answered, “When the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I asked myself, ‘Who knows? Maybe the LORD will show grace to me and the child will live.’ ²³ But now that he has died, what’s the point of fasting? Can I bring him back again? I’ll be going to be with him, but he won’t be returning to me.”
²⁴ The Birth of SolomonThen David consoled his wife Bathsheba. He went in and had sex with her, and she bore a son whom he named Solomon. The LORD loved him, ²⁵ and sent a message written by Nathan the prophet to call his name Jedidiah, for the Lord’s sake.
²⁶ The Ammonites are DefeatedMeanwhile, Joab attacked the Ammonite city of Rabbah and captured its stronghold. ²⁷ Then Joab sent messengers to David to tell him, “I just attacked Rabbah and captured its municipal water supply, ²⁸ so call out the rest of the army, attack the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I’ll take the city myself and name it after me.” ²⁹ So David mustered his entire army and marched on Rabbah, attacked it, and captured it. ³⁰ He confiscated the crown of their king from his head—it weighed one talent in gold and was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city, ³¹ brought back the people who had lived in it, placing them under conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. He did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

⁷ When Jotham was informed about this, he went out, took his stand on top of Mount Gerizim, and cried out loudly, “Listen to me, you “lords” of Shechem, and God will listen to you. ⁸ “Once upon a time the trees went out to consecrate a king for themselves. “So they told the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree asked them, ‘Should I stop producing my rich oils by which both God and men are honored and go take dominion over trees?’ ¹⁰ “So the trees told the fig tree, ‘Hey you! Come and reign over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree asked them, ‘Should I leave my sweet, good fruit and go take dominion over trees?’ ¹² “So the trees told the grape vine, ‘Hey you! Come and reign over us!’ ¹³ But the grape vine asked them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go take dominion over trees?’ ¹⁴ “So all the trees told the bramble bush, ‘Hey you! Come and reign over us!’ ¹⁵ Then the bramble bush replied to the trees, ‘If you really are consecrating me to rule you, come and put your confidence in my shade; but if not, may fire spring out from the bramble bush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon…’

¹ David Plans to Build the Temple
After the king had settled down in his palace and the LORD had given him respite from all of his surrounding enemies, ² he told the prophet Nathan, “Look now, I’m living in a cedar palace, but the Ark of God resides behind a tent curtain.”
³ Nathan replied to the king, “Go do everything you have in mind, because the LORD is with you.”
⁴ But later that same night, this message came to Nathan from the LORD: ⁵ “Go tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘“Are you going to build a house for me to inhabit?

¹⁷ Nathan communicated this complete oracle to David with precisely these words.

¹⁰ When David was told that Uriah hadn’t gone home the previous night, he quizzed him, “You just arrived from a long journey, so why didn’t you go down to your own house?”
¹¹ Uriah replied, “The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master’s staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won’t do something like this, will I?”
¹² Then David invited Uriah, “Stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all that day and the next. ¹³ Then at David’s invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord’s servants, and he did not go down to his house.
¹⁴ David Orders Uriah KilledThe next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. ¹⁵ In the message, he wrote: “Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed.” ¹⁶ So as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David’s army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too.

²⁵ David responded to the messenger, “Here’s what you’re to tell Joab: ‘Don’t be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.’ Be sure to encourage him.”

⁵ The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”
“I’ve been a widowed woman ever since my husband died,” she answered. ⁶ “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. ⁷ Now please pay attention closely! My whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”
⁸ Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”
⁹ But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”
¹⁰ The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering you anymore!”
¹¹ Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”
So he promised, “As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head will fall to the ground!”

¹⁴ After all, even though we all die, and we’re all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.

¹¹ Before David arose the next morning, this message from the LORD came to Gad, David’s seer: ¹² “Go tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I’m holding three choices out for you: pick one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’”
¹³ So Gad went to David and asked him, “Shall seven years of famine come to your land, or three months of reversals while you flee from your enemies as they pursue you, or three days of pestilence in your land? Decide right now what I am to answer to the one who sent me.”

¹ Josiah’s Desecration Predicted by a Man of GodRight when Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn some incense, a man of God arrived in Bethel from Judah in obedience to a command from the LORD.

¹ Elijah Rebukes AhabQuite some time later—three years later!—this message from the LORD came to Elijah: “Go visit Ahab, and I’ll send some rain to the surface of the ground.”

³⁵ Ahab is CondemnedRight about then, one of the members of the guild of prophets told another through a message from the LORD: “Please strike me!” But the man refused to do so, ³⁶ so he told him, “Because you haven’t obeyed the LORD’s voice, as soon as you leave here, a lion will kill you.” As soon as the man left, a lion found him and killed him.
³⁷ Later, he found another man and told him, “Please strike me!” So the man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet left and waited for the king to pass by, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
³⁹ As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and told him, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and a soldier turned aside, brought a prisoner to me, and told me, ‘Guard this man. If he turns up missing for any reason at all, you’ll pay for it with your life or be fined one talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, the prisoner escaped.”
The king told him, “By your actions you’ve earned the proper judgment!”
⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly tore off his bandage, and the king of Israel recognized him as being one of the prophets.

³ But the angel of the LORD spoke to Elijah the foreigner, “Get up and go meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Ask them ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re going to consult with Ekron’s god Baal-zebub?

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm. When the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon Have mercy, God, according to your gracious love, according to your unlimited compassion, erase my transgressions. ² Wash me from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgression; my sin remains continuously before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what was evil in your sight. As a result, you are just in your pronouncement and clear in your judgment. ⁵ Indeed, in iniquity I was brought forth; in sin my mother conceived me. ⁶ Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person, and you will teach me wisdom in my innermost parts. ⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Let me know joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. ⁹ Hide your countenance from my sins and erase the record of my iniquities. ¹⁰ God, create a pure heart in me, and renew a right attitude within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence; do not take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and let a willing attitude control me. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors about your ways, and sinners will turn to you. ¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood, God, God of my salvation. Then my tongue will sing about your righteousness. ¹⁵ Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. ¹⁶ Indeed, you do not delight in sacrifices, or I would give them, nor do you desire burnt offerings. ¹⁷ True sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A broken and chastened heart, God, you will not despise. ¹⁸ Show favor to Zion in your good pleasure; and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices, with burnt offerings, and with whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

¹ The LORD’s Vineyard I will sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: “The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ² He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones.” ³ “So now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, won’t you please, between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven’t already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones? ⁵ “Now, let me tell you, won’t you please, what I’m going to do to my vineyard. “I’m going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I’ll break down its wall, and it will be trampled. ⁶ I’ll make it a wasteland, and it won’t be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I’ll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it.” ⁷ For the vineyard of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden in which he delights. He looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; he searched for righteousness, but heard only an outcry!

¹⁷ Because of his wicked greed I was angry, so I punished him; and I hid my face, and was angry— but he kept turning back to his stubborn will. ¹⁸ I’ve seen his ways, yet I will heal him, and restore for him comfort to him and for those who mourn for him

³³ The Parable about the Tenant Farmers
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. ³⁴ When harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the farmers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and attacked another with stones. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants to them, a greater number than the first, but the tenant farmers treated them the same way. ³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they told one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farmers?”
⁴¹ They told him, “He will put those horrible men to a horrible death. Then he will lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at harvest time.”
⁴² Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.’?
⁴³ That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it. ⁴⁴ The person who falls over this stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
⁴⁵ When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them.

¹¹ The Story of the Loving FatherThen Jesus said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger one told his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. ¹³ A few days later, the younger son gathered everything he owned and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted it all on wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went out to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ No one would give him anything, even though he would gladly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating.
¹⁷ “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. ¹⁹ I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Treat me like one of your hired men.”’
²⁰ “So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately. ²¹ Then his son told him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’ ²² But the father told his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate! ²⁴ Because my son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
²⁵ “Now the father’s older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called to one of the servants and asked what was happening. ²⁷ The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got him back safely.’
²⁸ “Then the older son became angry and wouldn’t go into the house. So his father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Listen! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I’ve never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you’ve never given me so much as a young goat for a festival so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
³¹ “His father told him, ‘My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’”

¹⁹ The Rich Man and Lazarus“Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day. ²⁰ A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate. ²¹ He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.
²² “One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In the afterlife, where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’
²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings, while Lazarus received hardships. But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer. ²⁶ Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.’
²⁷ “The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house— ²⁸ because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t end up in this place of torture, too.’
²⁹ “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They should listen to them!’
³⁰ “But the rich man replied, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.’
³¹ “Then Abraham told him, ‘If your brothers do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”

² During this time, sons were born to David while he was living in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam from Jezreel, ³ his second was Chileab by Abigail, widow of Nabal from Carmel, his third was Absalom by Maacah, daughter of King Talmai from Geshur, ⁴ his fourth was Adonijah by Haggith, his fifth was Shephatiah by Abital, ⁵ and his sixth was Ithream by David’s wife Eglah. They were all born to David in Hebron.

¹³ But after arriving in Jerusalem after leaving Hebron, David took more wives and mistresses, and more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

⁸ “‘I gave you your former master’s household.
“‘I placed your former master’s wives right in your arms.
“‘I gave you Israel and Judah.
“‘And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!

¹⁶ So the king left, taking his entire household with him except for ten mistresses, who were to keep the palace in order.

³ His livestock included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants. Indeed, the man’s stature greatly exceeded that of many people who lived in the East.

⁶ Dealing with Idolaters“Your own blood brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your friend who is like your soul mate may entice you quietly. He may tell you, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods,’ (whom neither you nor your ancestors have known

³ David sent word to inquire about her, and someone told him, “This is Eliam’s daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn’t it?”

¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed and enjoy the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ Like a loving deer, a beautiful doe, let her breasts satisfy you all the time. Be constantly intoxicated by her love.

⁵ Don’t trust your friends, don’t confide in a companion, watch what you say to your wife.

² he glanced up and saw three men standing there, not far from him. As soon as he noticed them, Abraham ran from the tent entrance to greet them and bowed low to the ground. ³ “My lords,” he told them, “if I have found favor with you, please don’t leave your servant. ⁴ I’ll have some water brought to wash your feet while you rest under the tree. ⁵ I’ll bring some food for you, and after that you may continue your journey, since you have come to visit your servant.”
So they replied, “Okay! Do what you’ve proposed.”
⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent and told Sarah, “Quick! Take three measures of the best flour, knead it, and make some flat bread.”
⁷ Next, Abraham ran to the herd, found a choice and tender calf, and gave it to the young men, who went off in a hurry to prepare it.

³ David sent word to inquire about her, and someone told him, “This is Eliam’s daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn’t it?” ⁴ So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.

¹⁴ Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it.

²⁴ Tamar’s Pregnancy Rebukes JudahThree months later, it was reported to Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution! And look! She’s pregnant because of it!”
“Bring her out,” Judah responded. “Let’s burn her to death!”

³⁹ Indeed, as the LORD who delivers Israel lives, even if the sin is with my son Jonathan, he will surely die!” Not a single one of the soldiers answered him.

³¹ As long as Jesse’s son lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established! Now send someone and bring David to me. He’s a dead man!”

²¹ Now David had said, “Surely it was for nothing that I protected everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was missing of all that belonged to him. But he has repaid me with evil for good! ²² May the LORD do this to the enemies of David—and more also—if by the morning I’ve left alive a single male of all those who belong to him.”

¹⁶ This thing that you did is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, you who didn’t guard your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Where is the king’s spear and where is the jug of water that was at his head?”

⁴¹ “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them,

¹ God will Judge EveryoneTherefore, you have no excuse—every one of you who judges. For when you pass judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, practice the very same things.

¹ Laws Concerning Theft of Personal Property“If a man steals an ox or sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he is to repay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.

³¹ but when he is discovered, he must restore seven-fold, forfeiting the entire value of his house.

⁸ Later, Zacchaeus stood up and announced to the Lord, “Look! I’m giving half of my possessions to the destitute, and if I have accused anyone falsely, I’m repaying four times as much as I owe.”

¹³ For the one who has shown no mercy will be judged without mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹³ Then Samuel told Saul, “You have acted foolishly. You haven’t obeyed the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever,

¹⁷ So Samuel replied, “Is it not true that though you were small in your own eyes you became head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel?

¹³ God’s Spirit Comes on David and Departs from SaulThen Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came on David from that day forward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

¹¹ Saul hurled it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from him twice.

²¹ Saul told himself, “I’ll give her to him and she can be a snare to him and the Philistines will harm him.” So Saul told David, “For a second time you can be my son-in-law today.”

¹⁰ Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he jumped away from Saul and the spear stuck in the wall. That night David escaped and fled.
¹¹ Michal Helps David EscapeSaul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him so they could kill him in the morning. David’s wife, Michal, told him, “If you don’t escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be put to death.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window, and he escaped and fled. ¹³ Then Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed with a cover of goat hair placed at its head. Then she covered it with clothes.
¹⁴ When Saul sent the messengers to take David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”
¹⁵ Then Saul sent messengers to check on David. He told them, “Bring him to me on the bed so I may kill him.”

⁷ It was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, and Saul said, “The LORD has delivered him into my hand because he has shut himself in by going into a town with double gates and bars.”

¹⁴ Jonathan Visits DavidDavid stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and he lived in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not let David slip into Saul’s control.

²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul with this news: “Come quickly, because the Philistines have made a raid on the land!” ²⁸ So Saul turned around from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines. Therefore, they call that place the Rock of Escape.

⁸ “‘“Now therefore this is what you are to tell my servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “I took you from the pasture myself—from tending sheep—to become Commander-in-Chief over my people, that is, over Israel.

¹ David’s Psalm of DeliveranceDavid composed the words of this song to the LORD the very day the LORD delivered him from the domination of all of his enemies, including from Saul’s hands.

⁴⁹ delivering me from my enemies. You exalted me above those who rebelled against me, delivering me from violent men.

¹⁸ But Elijah replied, “I’m no destroyer of Israel. But you and your ancestor’s household have been doing that, because you have abandoned the LORD’s commandments and have followed the Baals.

⁴² He told the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you let the man whom I had dedicated to destruction go free, therefore your life is to be forfeited for his life, and your people for his people.’”

¹⁹ Ask the king, ‘Did you commit murder? And now you’re going to steal as well?’ Also tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Where the dogs were licking up Naboth’s blood, dogs will also lick up your blood—that’s right—yours!”’”
²⁰ Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?”
But Elijah answered, “I’ve found you because you sold yourself to do what the LORD considers to be evil!

¹ To the Director: By the servant of the LORD, David, who spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
Gratitude for Victory He said: “I love you, Lord, my strength.

¹⁴ When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick.

¹⁹ Why didn’t you obey the LORD, but grabbed the spoil and did evil in the LORD’s sight?”

⁴ After this, the army of Judah arrived, and they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
There they informed David, “The men of Jabesh-gilead buried Saul.”

⁵ He reigned over Judah for seven years and six months in Hebron, and he reigned over all of Israel including Judah for 33 years in Jerusalem.

¹⁹ And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD—you also have spoken about the future of your servant’s house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD!

⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” David reassured him, “because I’m going to show gracious love to you in memory of your father Jonathan. I’m going to restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you’ll always have a place at my table!”

¹¹ “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Listen very carefully!
“‘I’m raising up evil against you right out of your own household.
“‘I’m going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes.
“‘Then I’ll give them to your neighbor.
“‘And then he’s going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!

²² But King Solomon replied to his mother, “Why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Why not ask me to give up the kingdom for him, since he’s my older brother, and why not ask for Abiathar the priest, and for Zeruiah’s son Joab?”

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD grants grace and favor; the LORD will not withhold any good thing from those who walk blamelessly.

¹⁵ But you, Lord, are a compassionate God, merciful and patient, with unending gracious love and faithfulness.

³² The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won’t he?

⁵ Also, I will certainly demand an accounting regarding bloodshed, from every animal and from every human being. I’ll demand an accounting from every human being for the life of another human being. ⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by a human his own blood is to be shed; because God made human beings in his own image.

¹³ “You are not to commit murder.ז ¹⁴ “You are not to commit adultery.ח

³⁰ On Willful Sin“But if some person acts with a high hand, whether a native-born or a resident alien, he blasphemes God, and that person is to be eliminated from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the law of the LORD and has broken his commands, that person is certainly to be eliminated. His iniquity will remain on him.”

²³ Indeed, rebellion is the sin of divination, and arrogance is iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected this message from the LORD, he has rejected you from being king.”

⁴ So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.

¹⁴ David Orders Uriah KilledThe next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. ¹⁵ In the message, he wrote: “Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed.” ¹⁶ So as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David’s army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too.
¹⁸ Then Joab sent word to David about everything that had happened at the battle. ¹⁹ He instructed the courier, “When you have finished conveying all the news about the battle to the king, ²⁰ if the king starts to get angry and asks you, ‘Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Jerubbesheth’s son Abimelech? Didn’t a woman kill him by throwing an upper millstone on him from the wall at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ then tell him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”
²² So the messenger left Joab, set out for Jerusalem, and disclosed to David everything that Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger told David, “The men surprised us and attacked us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s staff members are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has died as well.”
²⁵ David responded to the messenger, “Here’s what you’re to tell Joab: ‘Don’t be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.’ Be sure to encourage him.”
²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard about the death of her husband Uriah, she went into mourning for the head of her household. ²⁷ When her mourning period was completed, David sent for her, brought her to his palace, and she became his wife. Later on, she bore him a son.
Meanwhile, what David had done grieved the LORD,

¹⁰ “‘Therefore the sword will never leave your household, because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

⁶ He burned his sons as an offering in the Ben-hinnom Valley, practiced fortune-telling, witchcraft, sorcery, and communicated with mediums and separatists. He did a lot of things that the LORD considered to be evil, thus provoking him.

⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what was evil in your sight. As a result, you are just in your pronouncement and clear in your judgment.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you, what we have concealed in the light of your presence.

¹ To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
God’s Knowledge and Presence LORD, you have examined me; you have known me. ² You know when I rest and when I am active. You understand what I am thinking when I am distant from you.

²⁴ The Effects of Divine JudgmentTherefore, as flames of fire devour straw, as dry grass collapses in flames, so their root will be rotten, and their blossom will blow away like dust, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁰ But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I’ll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it.

⁴ A Warning to JudahThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they rejected the Law of the LORD and did not keep his statutes. Their own lies made them wander off, following along the same path their ancestors walked.

²⁸ Anyone who violates the Law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” ²⁹ How much more severe a punishment do you think that person deserves who tramples on God’s Son, treats as common the blood of the covenant by which it was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace?

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night and spoke to him, “Pay attention! You’re about to die, because the woman you have taken is a man’s wife!”

²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out your nostrils and makes you vomit. This is because you’ve despised the LORD, who is among you, and you cried out in his presence by complaining, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

³⁰ “Therefore, the LORD God of Israel has declared, ‘I did, in fact, say that your family and your ancestor’s family would walk before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from me! The one who honors me I’ll honor, and the one who despises me is to be treated with contempt.

²⁸ Then Absalom instructed his young men, “Please keep watching Amnon until he’s drunk. Then I’ll tell you, ‘Attack Amnon!’ As soon as I do, kill him and don’t be afraid! You have your orders, so be strong and brave!” ²⁹ So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as they had been ordered, but the rest of David’s sons jumped up, mounted their mules, and escaped.

¹⁴ “There’s no reason to wait for you!” Joab retorted. Then he took three spears in his hand and stabbed Absalom in the heart while he was still alive, dangling from the branches of the oak tree. ¹⁵ Ten young men who served as Joab’s personal assistants then surrounded Absalom, striking him repeatedly and killing him.

³³ David Mourns for AbsalomDeeply shaken, the king went up to the chamber overlooking the city gate, weeping bitterly and crying out as he went along, “My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you, Absalom my son, my son!”

²³ Then King Solomon took this oath in the name of the LORD: “May God do so to me, and more besides, if Adonijah hasn’t endangered his life by bringing up this subject. ²⁴ Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of my father David, and who has established a dynasty, just like he promised, Adonijah will surely be executed today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent for Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, who attacked and killed Adonijah.

³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman is out of his mind; by doing so he corrupts his own soul. ³³ He will receive a beating and dishonor, and his shame won’t disappear,

⁹ Isaac’s high places will be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. I will rise in opposition to the house of Jeroboam with my sword.”

⁶ God’s Second Complaint: Against His Priests—A Despised Offering“A son honors his father and a servant his master. So if I’m a father, where is my honor? And if I’m a master, where is my respect?” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies to you priests who are despising my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ ⁷ By presenting defiled food on my altar. And you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying, ‘The Table of the LORD is contemptible.’

²⁴ God and Riches
“No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!”

⁵² Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place! Everyone who uses a sword will be killed by a sword.

⁴ Or are you unaware of his rich kindness, forbearance, and patience, that it is God’s kindness that is leading you to repent?

⁸ Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

³⁰ You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You’ll build a house but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest it.

¹ Amnon’s Rape of TamarSometime after this, David’s son Amnon fell in love with David’s other son Absalom’s beautiful sister Tamar. ² Amnon became so emotionally distressed that he fell sick over his half-sister Tamar. She was a virgin, and Amnon found it difficult to do anything to her.
³ Meanwhile, Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Now Jonadab was a very shrewd man. ⁴ “Why are you so depressed these past few mornings,” Jonadab asked Amnon, “since you’re a son of the king? Why not tell me?”
Amnon replied, “I’m in love with my brother Absalom’s sister Tamar.”
⁵ Jonadab advised him, “Lie down and fake being sick. When your father visits you, ask him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat that she prepares especially for me, and after she makes dinner for me, let her feed it to me personally.’”
⁶ So Amnon lay down and faked being sick. When the king came to visit him, Amnon asked the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make some of her bread especially for me, so she can feed it to me personally.”
⁷ So David sent for Tamar back at the palace, telling her, “Please go to your brother Amnon’s home and prepare some food for him.” ⁸ Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s home, where he was lying down. She brought along some dough, kneaded it, prepared some cakes especially for him, baked them, ⁹ and emptied the baking skillet just for him, but he refused to eat.
“Send everybody out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left the room. ¹⁰ Amnon told Tamar, “Bring the food into my private bedroom, so I can eat it with you personally.” So Tamar took the cakes she had prepared and brought them into the private bedroom for her brother Amnon.
¹¹ But as soon as she brought them near him to eat, he overpowered her and told her, “Come here and have sex with me, my sister!”
¹² “No, my brother!” she kept telling him. “Don’t humiliate me like this! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this utterly foolish thing! ¹³ And what about me? Where will I go to escape this disgrace? And as for you, you’ll be known as one of Israel’s greatest fools! So please talk to the king, because he won’t withhold me from you!”
¹⁴ But he was unwilling to listen to what she was saying. Since he was stronger than she was, he forced her into having sex with him.

⁶ By doing all of this to anyone who came to the king for a hearing, Absalom stole the loyalty of the men of Israel.

¹⁰ But Absalom sent agents throughout all of the tribes of Israel, telling them, “When you hear the sound of the battle trumpet, you’re to announce that Absalom is king in Hebron.”

²¹ Ahithophel responded, “Go inside and have sex with your father’s mistresses, whom he left to keep the palace in order. Then everyone in Israel will hear how your father has come to hate you and everyone who has joined you will be emboldened to act.” ²² So they erected a tent for Absalom on the palace roof and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s mistresses right in front of all Israel.

⁹ On False Prophets“Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I’ll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel.

²⁵ So I gave them statutes that weren’t good and ordinances by which they could not live. ²⁶ I made them unclean because of their offerings, so they made all their firstborn to pass through the fire, so that I could make them astonished. Then they’ll know that I am the LORD.”

¹³ They offer sacrifices on the mountain tops, burning offerings on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees, since their shade is very good. Therefore your daughters are prostitutes and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. ¹⁴ However, I’m not going to punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because their men are themselves immoral— they offer sacrifices with prostitutes. These people who aren’t discerning will stumble.

⁴ So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.
⁵ The woman conceived, and she sent this message to David: “I’m pregnant.”
⁶ So David summoned Joab, and told him, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah arrived, David inquired about how Joab was doing, how the army was doing, and how the war was progressing.
⁸ Then David told Uriah, “Go on down to your house and relax a while.” So Uriah left the king’s palace, and the king sent a gift along after him. ⁹ But Uriah spent the night sleeping in the alcove of the king’s palace in the company of all his master’s staff members. He refused to go down to his own home.
¹⁰ When David was told that Uriah hadn’t gone home the previous night, he quizzed him, “You just arrived from a long journey, so why didn’t you go down to your own house?”
¹¹ Uriah replied, “The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master’s staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won’t do something like this, will I?”
¹² Then David invited Uriah, “Stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all that day and the next. ¹³ Then at David’s invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord’s servants, and he did not go down to his house.
¹⁴ David Orders Uriah KilledThe next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. ¹⁵ In the message, he wrote: “Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed.”

²² So they erected a tent for Absalom on the palace roof and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s mistresses right in front of all Israel.

¹⁴ For God will judge every deed, along with every secret, whether good or evil.

¹ A Warning against HypocrisyMeanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. “Watch out for the yeast—that is, the hypocrisy—of the Pharisees! ² There is nothing covered up that won’t be exposed and nothing secret that won’t be made known.

⁵ Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

¹⁰ Honoring the Seventh Commandment“If anyone commits adultery with another man’s wife, including when someone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress are to die.

¹⁷ “If a man beats a human being to death, he is certainly to be executed,

³¹ You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die. ³² You are not to receive payment of a ransom for someone who had fled to a town of refuge but then left to live in his homeland before the death of the high priest. ³³ You are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled it.

²⁰ Saul told Samuel, “I did obey the LORD. I went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, I brought Agag king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites.

²⁴ “I’ve sinned,” Saul replied to Samuel. “I’ve broken the LORD’s command and your word, because I was afraid of the people and listened to them. ²⁵ Now, please forgive my sin and return with me so I may worship the LORD.”

³⁰ “I’ve sinned,” Saul said. “But please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so I may worship the LORD your God.”

¹⁰ Discipline for David’s Sin
Later, David’s conscience bothered him after he had numbered the army, so David told the LORD, “I have sinned greatly by what I did. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly.”

⁴ When he heard the man of God curse the altar in Bethel, the king pointed at the man of God from where the king was standing at the altar. “Seize him!” he ordered. But all of a sudden his hand that he had stretched out dried up, and he could not bring it back to his side!

²⁰ Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?”
But Elijah answered, “I’ve found you because you sold yourself to do what the LORD considers to be evil!

⁸ “There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do,” the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me. Instead, he prophesies evil. He is Imla’s son Micaiah.”
But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, “Kings should never talk like that.”

⁹ Fire from Heaven Destroys the King’s HenchmenSo the king sent out 50 men, along with their leader. The leader approached Elijah, who was sitting at the top of a hill. He ordered Elijah, “Hey, man of God! The king orders you to come down!”

¹⁰ In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison because of what Hanani had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel at that time.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada the priest’s son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, “This is what God has to say: ‘Why are you breaking the LORD’s commandments. You’ll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.’”
²¹ But the people conspired against him, and at the direct orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s Temple. ²² This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, “May the LORD watch this and avenge.”

¹⁶ But even while the prophet was speaking, the king asked him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, “I know God has determined to destroy you, because you’ve done all this and ignored my counsel.”

²⁰ So what if I sin? What have I done against you, you observer of humankind? Why have you made me your target? Why burden yourself with me? ²¹ Why haven’t you pardoned my transgression and taken away my iniquity? Now I’m about to lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I won’t be around!”

²⁷ The Song of the Ransomed“He’ll sing to mankind with these words: ‘I’ve sinned. I have twisted what is right. Yet he has not repaid me like I deserve.

¹ A Davidic instruction.
The Blessings of Forgiveness How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² How blessed is the person against whom the LORD does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away by my groaning all day long. ⁴ For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; my strength was exhausted as in a summer drought. Interlude ⁵ My sin I acknowledged to you; my iniquity I did not hide. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin! Interlude

¹⁶ Indeed, you do not delight in sacrifices, or I would give them, nor do you desire burnt offerings.

³ LORD, if you were to record iniquities, Lord, who could remain standing? ⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be feared.

¹² Like a gold earring and a necklace of pure gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

¹³ Whoever hides his transgressions will not succeed, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will find mercy.

⁵ “How terrible it will be for me!” I cried, “because I am ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!”
⁶ The Calling of IsaiahThen one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a burning coal in his hand that he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ He touched my mouth and said, “Look! Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sins atoned for.”

¹⁷ Yes, it was for my own good that I suffered extreme anguish. But in love you have held back my life from the Pit in which it has been confined; you have tossed all my sins behind your back.

²⁴ You haven’t bought me sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. You have only burdened me with your sins and made me tired with your iniquities.

²² I’ve wiped away your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me; because I’ve redeemed you.

³² though he causes grief, his compassion abounds according to his gracious love.

¹⁸ Who is like God?Is there any God like you, forgiving iniquity, passing over transgressions by the survivors who are your heritage? He is not angry forever, because he delights in gracious love. ¹⁹ He will again show us compassion; he will subdue our iniquities. You will hurl all their sins into the deepest sea.

⁴ So the angel continued to tell those who were standing in his presence, “Remove his filthy clothes.”
And he told Joshua, “Look how I’ve removed your iniquity. Now I’m clothing you with fine garments.”

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

¹⁰ So he sent word and had John beheaded in prison.

²¹ Then his son told him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’

³⁷ When the crowd that had gathered heard this, they were pierced to the heart. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.

³³ Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies! ³⁴ Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

²⁶ Then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the creation of the world. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once for all to remove sin by his sacrifice.

⁷ But if we keep living in the light as he himself 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 the Messiah, the witness, the faithful one, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

⁹ So I said, “What you’re doing isn’t right! Shouldn’t you live in the fear of our God to avoid shame from our foreign enemies?

¹⁰ God, how long will the adversary scorn while the enemy despises your name endlessly?

³¹ if they profane my statutes; and do not keep my commands, ³² then I will punish their disobedience with a rod and their iniquity with lashes. ³³ But I will not cut off my gracious love from him, and I will not stop being faithful.

¹² How blessed is the man whom you instruct, LORD, whom you teach from your Law,

¹¹ My son, do not reject the LORD’s discipline, and do not despise his correction, ¹² because the LORD corrects the person he loves, just as a father corrects the son he delights in.

⁵ “Now therefore, what am I doing here,” asks the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded,” says the LORD, “and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed.

²⁰ Nevertheless, when they arrived in those nations, they continued to profane my holy name. It was said about them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, even though they’ve left his land.’ ²¹ I’ve been concerned about my holy reputation, which the house of Israel has been defiling throughout all of the nations where they’ve gone.”
²² The Coming Renewal of Israel“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “I’m not about to act for your sake, you house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation, which you have been defiling throughout all of the nations where you’ve gone. ²³ I’m going to affirm my great reputation that has been defiled among the nations (that is, that you have defiled in their midst), and those people will learn that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I affirm my holiness in front of their very eyes.

² ‘You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind; therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.’”

⁷ How terrible it will be for the world due to its temptations to sin! Temptations to sin are bound to happen, but how terrible it will be for that person who causes someone to sin!

²⁴ As it is written, “God’s name is being blasphemed among the gentiles because of you.”

³² Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won’t be condemned along with the world.

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts.”

¹⁹ I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent!

³⁹ “Look now! I AM, and there is no other god besides me. I myself cause death and I sustain life; I wound severely and I also heal; from my power no one can deliver.

³⁸ About ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.

¹⁰ As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him down, or his time will come to die, or he will go into battle and perish.

⁵ The LORD struck the king so that he was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house while his son Jotham managed the household and ruled the people who lived in the land.

²⁰ Jeroboam’s Death and Asa’s Reign in JudahJeroboam never recovered his strength for the rest of Abijah’s life. The LORD struck Jeroboam, and he died,

²⁹ When you withdraw your favor, they are disappointed; Take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.

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

²² He answered, “When the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I asked myself, ‘Who knows? Maybe the LORD will show grace to me and the child will live.’

³¹ David arose, ripped his clothes in anguish, and collapsed to the ground while all of his staff stood by with their own clothes torn.

²⁷ Nevertheless, as soon as Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He even slept in sackcloth and wandered around meekly.

¹⁶ “Go and gather all the Jewish people who are in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. Both I and my young women will also fast in the same way, and then I’ll go in to the king, even though it’s against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

¹² Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth, though he conceals it under his tongue, ¹³ though he savors it and delays swallowing it so he can taste it again and again in his mouth, ¹⁴ his food will turn rancid in his stomach— it will become a cobra’s poison inside him.

¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

¹⁰ I weep and fast, and I am mocked for it.

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies called for weeping and mourning, for shaving heads and wearing sackcloth.

¹⁶ LORD, they came to you in distress; they poured out their secret prayer when your chastenings were afflicting them.

¹² Repentance and Restoration“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning. ¹³ Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil. ¹⁴ Who knows? He will turn back and relent, will he not, leaving behind a blessing, even a grain offering and drink offering for the LORD your God?”

⁹ Who knows but that God may relent, have compassion, and turn from his fierce anger, so that we are not exterminated?”

⁹ For three days he couldn’t see, and he didn’t eat or drink anything.

²³ Saul refused, saying, “I won’t eat!”
Both his servants and the woman urged him, and so he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.

³⁵ Everyone tried to persuade David to have a meal while there was still daylight, but David took an oath by saying, “May God to do like this to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

¹⁵ Our ancestors went down to Egypt, where we lived for many years. But the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors viciously.

³ So get cleaned up, put on some perfume, dress up, and go to the threshing floor, but don’t let him see you until after he’s finished eating and drinking.

¹⁷ They brought in the ark of the LORD, set it in place inside the tent that David had erected for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings in the presence of the LORD.

¹⁸ David’s Prayer
Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: “Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this?

²⁰ Job Blesses God Despite the CatastropheThen Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, bowed very low,

¹⁰ But he replied to her, “You’re talking like foolish women do. Are we to accept what is good from God but not tragedy?”
Throughout all of this, Job did not sin by what he said.

⁹ I remain silent; I do not open my mouth, for you are the one who acted.

⁸ Always keep your garments white, and don’t fail to anoint your head.

³⁹ Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin? ⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.

¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

¹⁵ The spiritual person evaluates everything but is subject to no one else’s evaluation.

¹ Hezekiah’s Illness and RecoveryDuring that time, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. Then Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You won’t recover.’”
² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. ³ “Please, LORD,” he said, “Remember how I have walked before you faithfully and with a true heart, and I have done what pleases you.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁵ “Go tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David has to say: “I’ve heard your prayer and I’ve seen your tears; so I will add fifteen years to your life.

¹⁴ Set apart time for a fast! Call a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and everyone living in the land to the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD!”

¹⁴ Who knows? He will turn back and relent, will he not, leaving behind a blessing, even a grain offering and drink offering for the LORD your God?”

¹⁵ Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in court— perhaps the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.’”

⁶ So the captain approached him, and told him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your god will think about us so we won’t die!”

⁹ Who knows but that God may relent, have compassion, and turn from his fierce anger, so that we are not exterminated?”
¹⁰ God took note of what they did—that they turned from their evil ways. Because God relented concerning the trouble about which he had warned them, he did not carry it out.

⁹ Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.

³⁵ All his sons and daughters showed up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He kept saying, “Leave me alone! I’ll go down to the next world, still mourning for my son.” So Joseph’s father wept for him.

⁸ The eyes of the one who sees me won’t see me anymore; your eyes will look for me but I won’t be around! ⁹ As a cloud fades away and vanishes, the one who descends to the afterlife doesn’t return. ¹⁰ He doesn’t return again to his house, and his place won’t recognize him anymore.”

²³ I know that you’re about to kill me, so I’m about to go to the house that’s appointed for all the living.”

⁴³ Jesus told him, “I tell you with certainty, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

¹² When your life is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come forth from your body, and I will fortify his kingdom.

⁵ These four children were born to David by Bath-shua daughter of Ammiel while he was living in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,

⁹ But look! A son born to you will live comfortably, because I will give him rest from all his enemies that surround him on every side, since his name will be “Solomon”—I will give peace and quiet for Israel during his lifetime. ¹⁰ He will build a temple to my name. He will be a son to me, I myself will be a father to him, and I will secure his royal throne in Israel forever.’

⁵ “Now out of all of my sons (since the LORD has given me many of them), he has selected my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD, ruling over Israel. ⁶ He told me, ‘I chose your son Solomon to be the one who will construct my Temple and my courts, because I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him.

¹ Offerings for the TempleThen King David addressed the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God alone has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the task is great, since this structure will be a citadel to the LORD God and not for human beings.

⁶ and Jesse fathered King David.
David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

⁴ But later that same night, this message came to Nathan from the LORD:

¹ so the LORD sent Nathan to David.
Nathan’s RebukeNathan approached David and said, “There are two men in the city. One is rich and one is poor. ² The rich man has many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except for one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It used to share his food and drink from his own cup. It even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. ⁴ A traveler arrived to visit the rich man. Because he was unwilling to take an animal from one of his own flocks or herds to prepare for the guest who had come to visit him, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to visit him.”
⁵ David flew into a rage at the man and told Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He will restore the lamb four times its value, because he did this thing, and because he did it without compassion.”
⁷ But Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says:
“‘I anointed you king—and you became king over Israel.
“‘I delivered you from Saul’s control.
⁸ “‘I gave you your former master’s household.
“‘I placed your former master’s wives right in your arms.
“‘I gave you Israel and Judah.
“‘And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!
⁹ “‘Why did you despise what the LORD has promised by doing what is detestable in his sight?
“‘You struck down Uriah the Hittite with a battle sword.
“‘You took his wife to be your own.
“‘You killed him with the sword of the Ammonite army.
¹⁰ “‘Therefore the sword will never leave your household, because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
¹¹ “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Listen very carefully!
“‘I’m raising up evil against you right out of your own household.
“‘I’m going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes.
“‘Then I’ll give them to your neighbor.
“‘And then he’s going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!
¹² “‘What you did in secret I’m going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!’”
¹³ At this point, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan responded to David, “There’s one other thing: the LORD has forgiven your sin. You won’t die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because you have despised the LORD’s enemies with utter contempt, the son born to you will most certainly die.”

¹¹ Nathan and Bathsheba Confer about Adonijah“Haven’t you heard?” Nathan asked Solomon’s mother Bathsheba. “Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king and David, our true king, isn’t aware of it.

²³ They informed the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.”
When he had been ushered into the presence of the king, Nathan bowed low in front of the king with his face to the ground

²⁶ Didn’t Solomon, king of Israel, sin by doing these things, even though among many nations there was no king like him who was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel? Even so, foreign women caused him to sin.

¹⁷ Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him!”

⁵ He was still speaking when a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them.
A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him. Keep on listening to him!”

¹¹ Only King Og of Bashan remained from the remnants of the Rephaim. In fact, his bed was made of iron. It’s in Rabbah of the Ammonites, isn’t it? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide.”

¹ The Capture of Rabbah
Later the next spring, at the time that kings go out to fight, Joab led out the army, ravaged the territory of the Ammonites, and then went out and attacked Rabbah, while David remained behind in Jerusalem. Joab besieged Rabbah and conquered it. ² David confiscated the crown of their king from his head, and found that its weight was a talent in gold. A precious stone had been set in it, and it was placed on David’s head. He also confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city, ³ brought back the people who had lived in it, and put them to conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

¹ David’s AdulteryOne spring day, during the time of year when kings go off to war, David sent out Joab, along with his personal staff and all of Israel’s army. They utterly destroyed the Ammonites and then attacked Rabbah while David remained in Jerusalem.

²⁰ Set it to point one way for bringing the sword against Rabbah, the descendants of Ammon, and the other way against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.

¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there’s nothing false in him.

² David confiscated the crown of their king from his head, and found that its weight was a talent in gold. A precious stone had been set in it, and it was placed on David’s head. He also confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city,

² David also conquered Moab, then measured them with a cord, making them lie down on the ground. He executed everyone measured out in each two lengths’ measurement of the cord, but spared the ones measured out by every third length. Then the Moabites were placed under servitude to David, and made to pay tribute.

³ brought back the people who had lived in it, and put them to conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ Your hand will find all your enemies, your right hand will find those who hate you. ⁹ When you appear, you will set them ablaze like a fire furnace. In his wrath, the LORD will consume them, and the fire will devour them.

³ A Warning to DamascusThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they have trampled down Gilead with ironclad threshing sleds.