Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane^(A)

^43 (B)And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I ^(C)kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.”

⁴⁵ As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

⁴⁶ Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him. ⁴⁷ And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

^48 (D)Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? ⁴⁹ I was daily with you in the temple ^(E)teaching, and you did not seize Me. But ^(F)the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

^50 (G)Then they all forsook Him and fled.

A Young Man Flees Naked

⁵¹ Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, ⁵² and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

Defending the Gospel^(A)

2 Then after fourteen years ^(B)I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. ² And I went up ^[a]by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but ^(C)privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means ^(D)I might run, or had run, in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ And this occurred because of ^(E)false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^(F)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^(G)that they might bring us into bondage), ⁵ to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^(H)the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶ But from those ^(I)who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^(J)God ^[b]shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^(K)added nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, ^(L)when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^(M)had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter ⁸ (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^(N)circumcised ^(O)also ^(P)worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James, ^[c]Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^(Q)pillars, perceived ^(R)the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^(S)that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^(T)the very thing which I also was eager to do.

No Return to the Law

^11 (U)Now when ^[d]Peter had come to Antioch, I ^[e]withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; ¹² for before certain men came from James, ^(V)he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing ^[f]those who were of the circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about ^(W)the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter ^(X)before them all, ^(Y)“If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, ^[g]why do you compel Gentiles to live as ^[h]Jews? ^15 (Z)We who are Jews by nature, and not ^(AA)sinners of the Gentiles, ^16 (AB)knowing that a man is not ^[i]justified by the works of the law but ^(AC)by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not ^(AD)by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found ^(AE)sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹ For I ^(AF)through the law ^(AG)died to the law that I might ^(AH)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(AI)crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh ^(AJ)I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(AK)who loved me and gave Himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God; for ^(AL)if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died ^[j]in vain.”

Praise to God for His Faithfulness and Justice

David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

11 It happened in the spring of the year, at the ^(A)time when kings go out to battle, that ^(B)David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged ^(C)Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

² Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed ^(D)and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he ^(E)saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not ^[a]Bathsheba, the daughter of ^[b]Eliam, the wife ^(F)of Uriah the ^(G)Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and ^(H)he lay with her, for she was ^(I)cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. ⁸ And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^(J)wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the ^(K)door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

¹¹ And Uriah said to David, ^(L)“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and ^(M)my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him ^(N)drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(O)with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ In the morning it happened that David ^(P)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the ^[c]hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may ^(Q)be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, ¹⁹ and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰ if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck ^(R)Abimelech the son of ^[d]Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”

²² So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. ²³ And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”

²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing ^[e]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

²⁶ When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she ^(S)became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done ^(T)displeased^[f] the Lord.

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ^(U)he came to him, and ^(V)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this ^[g]shall surely die! ⁶ And he shall restore ^(W)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I ^(X)anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ^9 (Y)Why have you ^(Z)despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? ^(AA)You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(AB)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will ^(AC)take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did it secretly, ^(AD)but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

^13 (AE)So David said to Nathan, ^(AF)“I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^(AG)put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord ^(AH)to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan departed to his house.

The Death of David’s Son

And the ^(AI)Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. ¹⁶ David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and ^(AJ)lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed and ^(AK)anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and ^(AL)worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

²² And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; ^(AM)for I said, ‘Who can tell whether ^[h]the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go ^(AN)to him, but ^(AO)he shall not return to me.”

Solomon Is Born

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So ^(AP)she bore a son, and ^(AQ)he^[i] called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, ²⁵ and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So ^[j]he called his name ^[k]Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

Rabbah Is Captured^(AR)

²⁶ Now ^(AS)Joab fought against ^(AT)Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. ²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. ²⁸ Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. ^30 (AU)Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the ^[l]spoil of the city in great abundance. ³¹ And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.