Old/New Testament
Appendices[a]
Chapter 21
Gibeonite Vengeance.[b] 1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years. Therefore, David consulted the Lord, who said: “Saul and his family have incurred bloodguilt because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 Thereupon the king summoned the Gibeonites and conferred with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites; rather they were a remnant of the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to exterminate them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites: “What can I do for you? How shall I atone for our treatment of you so that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites replied: “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul and his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone to death.” “Then what do you want me to do for you?” asked David.
5 They said to the king: “We cannot forget that man who destroyed us and planned to annihilate us so that we would never be able to have a place in the territory of Israel. 6 Please hand over to us seven of his male descendants, so that we may dismember them before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord.” The king replied: “I will hand them over to you.”
7 However, the king spared Meribbaal, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord that bound together David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 But the king took Armoni and Meribbaal, the two sons that Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab whom she had borne to Adriel, the son of Barzillai of Meholah. 9 He surrendered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, who dismembered them on the mountain before the Lord. All seven of them perished together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.
10 Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it out on a rock for herself, from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell from the heavens upon the bodies. She kept the birds of the sky away from the bodies by day and the wild beasts by night.
11 When David was informed about what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 he went forth and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh-gilead, who had absconded with them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up after they had killed Saul on Gilboa.
13 After David had removed from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, he also gathered up the bones of those who had been slain and dismembered. 14 The bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were buried at Zela, in the territory of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After all of the king’s commands had been carried out, God answered prayers that were offered up on behalf of the country.
15 Exploits in Philistine Wars.[c] Once again the Philistines went to war against Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, but he began to grow weary. 16 Ishbi-benob one of the descendants of the Rephaim, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was wielding new weapons, boasted that he would have no difficulty in slaying David.
17 However, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to David’s rescue, attacking the Philistine and slaying him. Then David’s men swore to him this oath: “Never again must you go forth with us to engage in battle, lest the lamp of Israel be extinguished.”
18 After this, war again broke out with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion, Sibbecai of Husha killed Saph, one of the Rephaim. 19 Shortly afterward there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan, the son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath of Gath, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20 There was yet another battle which took place at Gath, where a giant appeared with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Rephaim. 21 When he started to taunt Israel, Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him.
22 These four giants were descendants of the Rephaim in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his servants.
Chapter 22[d]
Song of Thanksgiving. 1 David sang to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hands of Saul. 2 He sang:
“The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge.
3 You are my shield and my saving strength,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior who delivers me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord
who is worthy of all praise;
then I shall be saved from my enemies.
5 The waves of death encompassed me,
and the destructive torrents assailed me.
6 The bonds of Sheol enmeshed me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 In my distress I called out to the Lord;
I called to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
8 “The earth quaked and shook;
the foundations of the heavens trembled,
quaking because of his blazing anger.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
while a devouring fire poured forth from his mouth
that kindled coals into flame.
10 “He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds lay under his feet.
11 He descended on the back of a cherub and flew,
soaring swiftly on the wings of the wind.
12 “He used the darkness as his covering;
dense thunderclouds were his canopy.
13 From the radiance before him
coals were kindled into burning fire.
14 “The Lord thundered from the heavens,
and the Most High caused his voice to resound.
15 He shot his arrows and scattered them;
he hurled forth his lightning bolts and routed them.
16 “Then the depths of the sea were exposed,
and the earth’s foundations ware laid bare.
This occurred at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
17 “He reached down from on high and snatched me up;
he drew me out of the watery depths.
18 He delivered me from my mighty enemy,
from my foes who were too powerful for me.
19 “They confronted me in my hour of calamity,
but the Lord came forward to support me.
20 He set me free in a spacious field;
he rescued me because he loves me.
21 “The Lord has rewarded me for my righteousness;
because my hands were pure he has recompensed me.
22 [e]For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not followed the path of wickedness.
23 “His laws are clearly known to me,
and I have not failed to observe his decrees.
24 I was blameless in his sight,
and I kept myself free from sin.
25 Therefore, the Lord has rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to the blameless you show yourself blameless.
27 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the perverse you show yourself to be shrewd.
28 Those who are humble you save,
but you ignore those who are haughty.
29 “You, O Lord, are my lamp;
my God will enlighten my darkness.
30 With your help I can storm a rampart;
with my God to aid me I can scale any wall.
31 The way of God is blameless;
the Lord’s promise has proved true.
He is a shield to all
who take refuge in him.
32 “For who is God except the Lord?
Who is a rock aside from our God?
33 The God who girds me with strength
has kept my feet free of obstacles.
34 This God has made my feet swift as a deer’s
and set me securely on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 “You have given me the shield of salvation;
you stoop down to make me great.
37 You broaden the path for my steps,
and my feet have not slipped.
38 “I pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
I did not turn back until I made an end of them.
39 I crushed them completely and they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
40 “You girded me with strength for the battle;
you subdued my assailants beneath me.
41 You caused my enemies to retreat before me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
42 “They cried out for help,
but there was no one to save them.
They cried out to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
43 I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I trampled them down like dust in the streets.
44 “You have delivered me from the strife of my people;
you made me the head of the nations;
a people I did not know became my subjects.
45 Foreigners came forth cringing before me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Having become disheartened,
they came forth trembling from their strongholds.
47 “The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock.
Exalted be the God of my salvation
48 O God, you granted me vengeance
and subjected entire nations to me.
49 You freed me from my enemies
and exalted me above my adversaries,
delivering me from violent men.
50 “For this I will praise you among the nations, O Lord,
and sing praise to your name.
51 You have given great victories to your king,
and you have shown steadfast love to your anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
24 Danger of Riches. Jesus looked at him and said, “How difficult it is for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for men is possible for God.”
28 The Reward of Renunciation. Peter said to him, “We have given up our homes to follow you.” 29 Jesus replied, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 who will not receive many times as much in this age, and eternal life in the age to come.”
31 Jesus Predicts His Passion a Third Time.[a] Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are now going up to Jerusalem, and everything that has been written by the Prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and on the third day he will rise again.”
34 But they understood nothing of this. Its meaning remained obscure to them, and they failed to comprehend what he was telling them.
35 Jesus Heals a Blind Man.[b] As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going past, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 39 The people in front rebuked him and ordered him to be silent, but he only shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. And when he had come near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He answered, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. And all the people who witnessed this also gave praise to God.
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