Old/New Testament
Chapter 3
1 A lengthy war ensued between the house of Saul and the house of David. As time went on, David grew steadily stronger, while the house of Saul became notably weaker.
Sons Born in Hebron.[a] 2 Sons were born to David at Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3 his second was Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur; 4 the fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; the fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital; 5 the sixth was Ithream, the son of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.
Ishbaal and Abner Quarrel. 6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had gradually been gaining power in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbaal said to Abner: “Why have you slept with my father’s concubine?”
8 Abner became enraged at this insult of Ishbaal, and he said: “Am I nothing more than a dog’s head in Judah? I have continued to be loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his brothers and friends, and I have not betrayed you into the hands of David. Yet now you charge me with a crime involving a woman.
9 “May God punish Abner severely, and inflict even greater ills, if I fail to accomplish for David what the Lord swore to him. 10 I shall take the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beer-sheba.” 11 And Ishbaal did not dare to say another word in response, because he was afraid of him.
12 Abner and David Reconciled. Abner sent messengers on his own behalf to say to David: “Who should control the land? If you come to an agreement with me, I will give you my support in bringing all Israel over to you.” 13 [b]David replied: “Good! I will negotiate an agreement with you. However, I will impose one condition. You will not be allowed to appear in my presence unless you bring back Saul’s daughter, Michal, when you come to see me.”
14 Then David also sent messengers to Ishbaal, the son of Saul, with this demand: “Return to me my wife Michal whom I espoused after paying the ransom of one hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15 Therefore, Ishbaal summoned Michal and took her away from her husband Paltiel, the son of Laish. 16 However, her husband, weeping copiously, followed her as far as Horonaim, at which time Abner commanded him: “Go back,” and he returned home.
17 Abner then proceeded to confer with the elders of Israel. “For a long time now,” he said, “you have wanted David to be your king. 18 Now is the time for you to make that wish a reality, for the Lord has said of David: ‘By means of my servant David I will deliver my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from all their enemies.’ ” 19 Abner also spoke personally to the Benjaminites. After that he went to Hebron to notify David about everything that the people of Israel and the house of Benjamin had agreed to do.
20 When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21 Abner then said to David: “Allow me now to go and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, in order that they may make a covenant with you, and thus you will reign over all that your heart desires.” Therefore, David dismissed Abner, who went away in peace.
22 The Death of Abner. Just then, David’s men returned with Joab from a raid, bringing with them a large amount of plunder. By then Abner had been dismissed by David and was no longer in Hebron, for he had gone his way in peace. 23 When Joab and all of the soldiers with him arrived, Joab was informed that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to the king, and that the king had sent him on his way in peace.
24 Then Joab went to the king and said: “What have you done? Abner came to you. What motivated you to dismiss him and allow him to go away as an innocent man? 25 You must be aware that Abner, the son of Ner, came here with the purpose of deceiving you, in order to learn about your movements and to find out what you are doing.”
26 When Joab left David’s presence, he sent messengers to pursue Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. However, David knew nothing at all about this. 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pretended that he wanted to speak to him privately and took him aside at the city gate, where he stabbed him fatally in the stomach. Thus Abner died in retaliation for the murder of Asahel, the brother of Joab.
28 Later, when David heard the news, he said: “Before the Lord, I and my kingdom are forever innocent of the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. 29 May the guilt for this act fall on the head of Joab and his entire family. May the house of Joab never be unafflicted by men who suffer from running sores or leprosy or effeminacy or who are doomed to die by the sword or are in need of bread.” ( 30 Joel and his brother Abishai had murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at the battle of Gibeon.)
31 David Mourns Abner. Then David said to Joab and all the people who were with him: “Tear off your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 After they buried Abner at Hebron, the king wept aloud at the grave of Abner, and all the people also wept. 33 Then the king sang this lament for Abner:
“Why should Abner have died
the way a lawless brute dies?
34 Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered
As one falls at the hands of the wicked,
you too have fallen.”
And all the people continued to weep for him.
35 After that, the people tried to persuade David to eat something while it was still day, but David swore: “May God deal with me severely, and even more terribly, if I eat bread or anything else prior to sunset.” 36 All the people took note of his pledge with approval, just as everything that the king did truly pleased them. 37 Therefore, on that day the people and all Israel were fully convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner, the son of Ner.
38 Then the king said to his servants: “You surely must realize that a prince and a great warrior has fallen this day in Israel. 39 And today, even though I have been anointed as the king, I feel weak and powerless with the realization that these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer as his evil crimes deserve.”
Chapter 4
The Death of Ishbaal. 1 When Saul’s son Ishbaal heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed him, and all Israel was alarmed. 2 Ishbaal had two men who served as captains of raiding parties; one was named Baanah, and the other was named Rechab. They were the sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth—for Beeroth is regarded as being part of Benjamin. 3 The people of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim, where they have remained as aliens to this very day.
4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, the young boy fell to the ground and became lame. His name was Meribbaal.[c]
5 The sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, Rechab and Baanah, arrived at the house of Ishbaal during the hottest part of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 The woman who was stationed at the door had fallen asleep while she was sifting wheat. 7 Therefore, Rechab and his brother quietly slipped past her and entered the house, and when they found him asleep on the couch in his bedroom, they attacked and killed him and cut off his head. Then they took his head and traveled throughout the night by way of the Arabah.
The Murder Avenged.[d] 8 When they arrived in Hebron, they brought the head of Ishbaal to David and said to the king: “Here is the head of Ishbaal, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. Thus has the Lord this day avenged my lord the king on Saul and his offspring.”
9 Then David replied to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite: “As the Lord lives, he who has delivered me from every danger, 10 in Ziklag I seized and ordered to be killed the man who brought me word that Saul was dead. That was how I rewarded him. 11 How much more then should I take such action when wicked men have slain an innocent man as he was lying on his bed in his house. Should I not now exact vengeance on you for shedding his blood and remove you from the face of the earth?”
12 Therefore, at David’s command, his young soldiers killed them. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron. However, they took the head of Ishbaal and buried it in Abner’s grave at Hebron.
Chapter 5
David as King of Israel.[e] 1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said: “Listen to us. We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In former days, when Saul was our king, you were the one who led the Israelites on their campaigns and brought them back. Moreover, the Lord said to you: ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel and be the ruler of Israel.’ ” 3 Then all the elders of Israel came to David, the king of Hebron, and David made a covenant with them there before the Lord. After this they anointed David as king of Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and then in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
Capture of Zion. 6 Then the king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who inhabited the land. These people said to David: “You will never come in here. Even the blind and the lame will stop you in your tracks.” In this way they showed their contempt for David and his forces.
7 [f]Despite their boast, David did take the stronghold of Zion, which is now known as the City of David. 8 David had said on that day: “All those who are eager to attack the Jebusites must scale the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, the bitter enemies of David.” Therefore, it is said: “The blind and the lame shall not enter the palace.”
9 David then took up residence in the stronghold and called it the City of David. After that, he constructed a wall around it from the Millo[g] inward. 10 David steadily continued to grow more powerful, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
11 King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David with cedar wood, and he also supplied carpenters and stonemasons who built a palace for David. 12 Then David had no doubt at all that the Lord had established him as king of Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
13 David’s Family in Jerusalem. After he departed from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.[h] 14 These are the names of those children who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
17 Rout of the Philistines.[i] When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they all went forth in search of him. When David learned of this, he sought refuge in the stronghold. 18 After the Philistines arrived and deployed their forces in the valley of Rephaim, 19 David inquired of the Lord: “Shall I go forth and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my power?” The Lord replied to David: “Go forth and attack them! I shall deliver the Philistines into your hands.”
20 Therefore, David went forth to Baal-perazim and defeated them there. Then he said: “The Lord has broken through the battle lines of my enemies as though they had been breached by the flood waters of a river.” That is why that place is called Baal-perazim. 21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
22 However, the Philistines made another invasion and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 Then David once again consulted the Lord, who said: “Do not attack them from the front. Rather, encircle them from the rear and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the top of the balsam trees, advance immediately, for then you will know that the Lord has gone forth ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
25 David followed the instructions of the Lord, and he routed the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.
Conditions To Be a Disciple[a]
25 Renunciation of Everything for Jesus.[b] Great crowds were accompanying Jesus on his journey, and he turned to them and said, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,[c] wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 [d]“Which one of you, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has sufficient funds for its completion? 29 Otherwise, if he has laid the foundation and then finds himself unable to finish the work, all who see it will ridicule him, saying, 30 ‘There goes the man who started to build but was unable to complete the work.’
31 “Or what king marching into battle against another king will not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand soldiers he can defeat the enemy coming to oppose him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the enemy is still a long distance away, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any one of you who does not renounce all of his possessions cannot be my disciple.
34 The Simile of Salt.[e]“Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the dungheap. Thus, it can only be thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.