The Daily Audio Bible

David Leaves the Service of Achish

29 Now the Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and Israel was encamped at the spring that is in Jezreel. ² The rulers of the Philistines were passing on according to hundreds and thousands, David and his men passing on at the rear with Achish. ³ Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me for days and years?^[a] I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!” ⁴ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, “Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men? ⁵ Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying,

⁶ So Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives,^[b] certainly you were honest, and I am pleased to have you marching with me^[c] in the campaign.^[d] For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you are not good. ⁷ So then, return and go in peace, so that you do not do something that displeases^[e] the rulers of the Philistines.” ⁸ Then David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I entered your service^[f] until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹ And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are good in my eyes, like an angel of God! However, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ ¹⁰ So then, rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you. When you rise early in the morning and it is light enough for you, leave. ¹¹ So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Recovers His Loved Ones

30 Now^[g] when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire. ² They took captive the women^[h] who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest.^[i] They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way. ³ When David and his men came to the city, they saw,^[j] and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. ⁵ Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel^[k] and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ And David was in a very precarious situation,^[l] for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

⁷ Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.” ⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi^[m] Besor, but the rest remained. ¹⁰ David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.

¹¹ Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water. ¹² They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him,^[n] because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³ Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong,^[o] and from where are you? The young man said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago. ¹⁴ We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵ So David asked him, “Will you take me down to this band of raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band.” ¹⁶ So he took him down, and there they were,^[p] spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except^[q] four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. ¹⁸ So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest,^[r] even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything. ²⁰ And David took all of the sheep,^[s] and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”

²¹ Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow^[t] David; they had left them behind at the Wadi^[u] Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing.^{[v] 22} Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except^[w] each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!” ²³ But David said to them, “You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand. ²⁴ And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike.” ²⁵ So^[x] from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.

²⁶ Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is^[y] a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!” ²⁷ It was for those in Bethel, for those in Ramoth of the Negev, for those in Jattir, ²⁸ for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa, ²⁹ for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites, ³⁰ for those in Hormah, for those in Bor Ashan, for those in Athach, ³¹ for those in Hebron, and for all the places where David and his men had roamed.^[z]

Saul and Jonathan Die on Mount Gilboa

31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. ³ Saul was in the thick of the battle,^[aa] and the archers^[ab] spotted^[ac] him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer,^[ad] “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!” But his armor bearer^[ae] was not willing to do so because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. ⁵ And when his armor bearer^[af] saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, his armor bearer,^[ag] and all his men together that same day.

⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ And then^[ah] the next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent messengers around in the land of the Philistines to proclaim victory in the temples^[ai] of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ And they put his armor in the temple^[aj] of the Ashtoreth,^[ak] and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all of the valiant men^[al] set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the surrounding country before the Passover, so that they could purify themselves. ⁵⁶ So they were looking for Jesus, and were speaking with one another while^[a] standing in the temple courts,^[b] “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷ (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, they should report it,^[c] in order that they could arrest him.)

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany

12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they made him a dinner there, and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of the ones reclining at table with him. ³ Then Mary took a pound^[d] of ointment of very valuable genuine nard and^[e] anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, ⁵ “Why^[f] was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶ (Now he said this not because he was concerned^[g] about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.)^{[h] 7} So Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my preparation for burial. ⁸ For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have me.”

The Decision to Kill Lazarus

⁹ Now a large crowd^[i] of Jews found out that he was there, and they came, not only because of Jesus, but so that they could see Lazarus also, whom he raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus also, ¹¹ because on account of him many of the Jews were going and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they^[j] heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, and began crying out,

¹⁴ So Jesus found a young donkey and^[l] sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁶ (His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and they did these things to him.) ¹⁷ So the crowd who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify. ¹⁸ Because of this also the crowd went to meet him, for they had heard that he had performed this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing! Behold, the world has gone after him.”

Praise to God for His Loyal Love