Old/New Testament
Chapter 1
The Report of Saul’s Death. 1 Shortly after the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites, and he stayed for two days in Ziklag. 2 On the third day a man appeared from Saul’s camp, with his clothes in tatters and dirt on his head. Upon coming into David’s presence, he fell to the ground and paid him homage.
3 David asked him: “Where have you come from?” And he replied: “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” 4 David then inquired: “What has happened there? Tell me!” The man answered: “The soldiers fled from the battle, but many of them fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
5 David then asked the young man who had brought the news: “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6 The young man replied: “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I beheld Saul leaning on his spear as the chariots and the horsemen were closing in on him. 7 When he happened to turn around and saw me, he summoned me to him. I said: ‘Here I am.’ 8 Saul then said to me: ‘Who are you?’ And I told him: ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 Then he gave me this order: ‘Come here, stand over me, and kill me. The throes of death have overcome me, yet I am still alive.’
10 “Therefore, I stood over him and slew him, for I knew that he could not possibly survive because of the wounds he had suffered. Then I removed the crown that was on his head and the armlet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”
11 [a]Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and the men who were with him did the same. 12 They mourned and wept, and they fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, as well as for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 David then said to the young man who had brought him the report: “Where do you come from?” He answered: “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.” 14 David thereupon asked him: “How was it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
15 Then David summoned one of his young soldiers and gave him this order: “Come here and strike him down!” The young man struck him down, and he died. 16 As he fell, David said to him: “Your blood be on your own head. You convicted yourself by your own testimony when you said: ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”
17 Elegy for Saul and Jonathan. David chanted the following lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that this dirge over them be taught to the people of Judah. It is recorded in the Book of Jashar.
19 [b]“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your heights.
How the mighty have fallen!
20 “Do not mention it in Gath
or proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon.
Let not the daughters of the Philistines rejoice
and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
21 “You mountains of Gilboa,
may no dew or rain fall upon you,
and may your fields not bring forth grain.
For there the shields of the warriors were tarnished,
and the shield of Saul is no longer anointed with oil.
22 “From the blood of the slain,
from the flesh of the valiant,
The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor did the sword of Saul return unbloodied.
23 “Saul and Jonathan:
in life they were beloved and kind;
in death they were not separated.
They were swifter than eagles
and stronger than lions.
24 “O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul
who clothed you in scarlet and fine embroidery,
and who beautified your apparel with ornaments of gold.
25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your heights.
26 “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother.
To me you were greatly beloved.
Your love for me was more wonderful
than the love of a woman.
27 “The warriors have fallen,
and their weapons have been abandoned!”
Chapter 2
David Is Anointed King.[c] 1 After this, David inquired of the Lord, asking: “Shall I go up into one of the towns of Judah?” The Lord replied to him: “Go up.” Then David asked: “To which one stall I go?” The Lord answered: “Hebron.”
2 Therefore, David went up to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also brought up the men who were with him, along with their families, and they settled in the towns of Hebron. Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David as king of the house of Judah.
4 When David received a report that the men of Jabesh-gilead were the ones who had buried Saul, 5 he sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead to say to them: “May you be blessed by the Lord for having done this act of kindness to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord bestow his love and faithfulness upon you. Moreover, I too will treat you with kindness because you have done this charitable deed. 7 Therefore, have courage and be valiant, for even though your lord, Saul, is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”
The Reign of David
Ishbaal as King of Israel.[d] 8 Meanwhile the commander of Saul’s army, Abner, the son of Ner, had taken Ishbaal, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 There he made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ishbaal, the son of Saul, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. However, the house of Judah followed David. 11 The length of time that David was in Hebron as king of the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
12 Combat near Gibeon. Abner, the son of Ner, departed from Mahanaim with the servants of Ishbaal and went to Gibeon. 13 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, also set forth with David’s servants and encountered them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool, while the other group sat on the opposite side.
14 Then Abner suggested to Joab: “Let us have the young men come forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat before us.” Joab replied: “Let them come forward.” 15 Therefore, they came forward and were counted: twelve men from Benjamin for Ishbaal, the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 Each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side. Thus they all fell down together. Therefore, that place, which is in Gibeon, was called the Field of Swords.
17 Death of Asahel. On that day the battle was extremely fierce, and when it was finally over, Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s forces. 18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Then Asahel, who was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle, 19 pursued Abner, turning neither to the left nor to the right as he followed him.
20 Abner looked back and said: “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied: “Yes, it is.” 21 Abner then said to him: “Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young men, and take from him what is of value.” However, Asahel had no intention of forsaking his pursuit.
22 Abner once again tried to dissuade him: “Cease your pursuit of me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look your brother Joab in the face?” 23 Nevertheless Asahel refused to turn away. Therefore, Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, and the spear protruded through his back. He fell there and died instantaneously.
All those who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died came to a halt. 24 However, Joab and Abishai continued the pursuit of Abner until, as the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies east of Giah on the road toward the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 Truce between Joab and Abner. The Benjaminites rallied to the support of Abner, gathering in a tightly knit formation behind Abner and taking their stand at the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called out to Joab: “Will this slaughter never end? Do you not realize how bitter the end will be? How long will it take before you order your people to cease from the pursuit of their brothers?”
27 Joab replied: “As God lives, if you had not spoken, the soldiers would not have relented in their pursuit of their brothers until morning.” 28 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt. They abandoned their pursuit of the Israelites and did not engage in battle any further.
29 Abner and his men traveled all that night through the Arabah. Then they crossed the Jordan and continued their journey the entire morning until they came to Mahanaim. 30 After returning from the pursuit of Abner, Joab gathered his people together and discovered that, aside from Asahel, nineteen other servants of David were missing. 31 However, the forces of David had killed three hundred and sixty Benjaminites, followers of Abner. 32 They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched throughout the night, and they reached Hebron at daybreak.
A Dinner Given by a Pharisee[a]
Chapter 14
Jesus Heals a Man with Dropsy on the Sabbath.[b] 1 On one Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of a prominent Pharisee, and the people were watching him closely. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy, 3 and Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 When they offered no reply, he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they were unable to give him any answer.
The Parable of the Ambitious Guest.[c] 7 When he noticed how the guests were securing places of honor, he told them a parable: 8 “When you have been invited by someone to attend a wedding banquet, do not sit down in the place of honor in case someone who is more distinguished than you may have been invited, 9 and then the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will be embarrassed as you proceed to sit in the lowest place.
10 “Rather, when you are invited, proceed to sit in the lowest place, so that when your host arrives, he will say to you, ‘My friend, move up to a higher place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Invite the Needy.[d] Then he said to the one who had invited him, “When you host a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, lest they invite you back and thus repay you. 13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then indeed will you be blessed because they have no way to repay you. But you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 The Parable of the Great Supper.[e] On hearing this, one of the dinner guests said to him, “Blessed is the man who will dine in the kingdom of God.” 16 Jesus said in reply, “A man gave a sumptuous banquet, to which he invited many. 17 When the hour for the banquet drew near, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited: ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have bought a parcel of land, and I must go out to inspect it. Please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out. Please accept my regrets.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have just gotten married, and therefore I am unable to come.’
21 “When the servant returned, he reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became enraged, and he said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Shortly afterward, the servant told him, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, and some room is still available.’ 23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the open roads and along the hedgerows and compel people to come,[f] so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”
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