Old/New Testament
David’s Campaign against the Ammonites
19 Later King Nahash of the Ammonites died and his son succeeded him. 2 David said, “I will express my loyalty[a] to Hanun son of Nahash, for his father was loyal[b] to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy over his father’s death.[c] When David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to visit Hanun and express the king’s sympathy,[d] 3 the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy?[e] No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!”[f] 4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved their beards off.[g] He cut off the lower part of their robes so that their buttocks were exposed[h] and then sent them away. 5 People[i] came and told David what had happened to the men, so he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow again; then you may come back.”
6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them,[j] Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents[k] of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maacah, and Zobah.[l] 7 They hired 32,000 chariots, along with the king of Maacah and his army, who came and camped in front of Medeba. The Ammonites also assembled from their cities and marched out to do battle.
8 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them.[m] 9 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come were by themselves in the field. 10 When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans.[n] 11 He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army and they were deployed against the Ammonites. 12 Joab[o] said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me,[p] you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you,[q] I will come to your rescue. 13 Be strong! Let’s fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!”[r] 14 So Joab and his men[s] marched toward the Arameans to do battle, and they fled before him. 15 When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before Joab’s[t] brother Abishai and withdrew into the city. Joab went back to Jerusalem.
16 When the Arameans realized they had been defeated by Israel, they sent for reinforcements from beyond the Euphrates River,[u] led by Shophach the commanding general of Hadadezer’s army.[v] 17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River,[w] and marched against them.[x] David deployed his army against the Arameans for battle and they fought against him.[y] 18 The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 7,000[z] Aramean charioteers and 40,000 infantrymen; he also killed Shophach[aa] the commanding general. 19 When Hadadezer’s subjects saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.
20 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars,[ab] Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down. 2 David took the crown from the head of their king[ac] and wore it[ad] (its weight was a talent[ae] of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city. 3 He removed the city’s residents and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and axes.[af] This was his policy[ag] with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
Battles with the Philistines
4 Later there was a battle[ah] with the Philistines in Gezer.[ai] At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai,[aj] one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines[ak] were subdued.
5 There was another battle with the Philistines in which Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[al] whose spear had a shaft as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom.[am]
6 In a battle in Gath[an] there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea,[ao] David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed[ap] by the hand of David and his soldiers.[aq]
The Lord Sends a Plague against Israel
21 An adversary[ar] opposed[as] Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.[at] 2 David told Joab and the leaders of the army,[au] “Go, count the number of warriors[av] from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.”[aw] 3 Joab replied, “May the Lord make his army[ax] a hundred times larger! My master, O king, do not all of them serve my master? Why does my master want to do this? Why bring judgment on Israel?”[ay]
4 But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections.[az] So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. 5 Joab reported to David the number of warriors.[ba] In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding[bb] soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers.[bc] 6 Now Joab[bd] did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s edict disgusted him. 7 God was also offended by it,[be] so he attacked Israel.
8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9 The Lord told Gad, David’s prophet,[bf] 10 “Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’”[bg] 11 Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Pick one of these: 12 three[bh] years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords,[bi] or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the angel of the Lord will destroy throughout Israel’s territory.’[bj] Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me.” 13 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!”[bk] 14 So the Lord sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.
15 God sent an angel[bl] to ravage[bm] Jerusalem. As he was doing so,[bn] the Lord watched[bo] and relented from[bp] his judgment.[bq] He told the angel who was destroying, “That’s enough![br] Stop now!”[bs]
Now the angel of the Lord was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan[bt] the Jebusite. 16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.[bu] 17 David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed![bv] As for these sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family,[bw] but remove the plague from your people!”[bx]
18 So the angel of the Lord told Gad to instruct David to go up and build[by] an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord.[bz] 20 While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the messenger, and he and his four sons hid themselves. 21 When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face[ca] to the ground. 22 David said to Ornan, “Sell me the threshing floor[cb] so I can build[cc] on it an altar for the Lord—I’ll pay top price[cd]—so that the plague may be removed[ce] from the people.” 23 Ornan told David, “You can have it![cf] My master, the king, may do what he wants.[cg] Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you.” 24 King David replied to Ornan, “No, I insist on buying it for top price.[ch] I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice[ci] that cost me nothing.[cj] 25 So David bought the place from Ornan for 600 pieces of gold.[ck] 26 David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings.[cl] He called out to the Lord, and the Lord[cm] responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar. 27 The Lord ordered the messenger[cn] to put his sword back into its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord responded to him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 Now the Lord’s tabernacle (which Moses had made in the wilderness) and the altar for burnt sacrifices were at that time at the worship center[co] in Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to seek God’s will, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.[a] 2 Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach[b] them. 3 The experts in the law[c] and the Pharisees[d] brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them 4 and said to Jesus,[e] “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death[f] such women.[g] What then do you say?” 6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against[h] him.)[i] Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.[j] 7 When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight[k] and replied,[l] “Whoever among you is guiltless[m] may be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then[n] he bent over again and wrote on the ground.
9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones,[o] until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up straight[p] and said to her, “Woman,[q] where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”]][r]
Jesus as the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke out again,[s] “I am the light of the world![t] The one who follows me will never[u] walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees[v] objected,[w] “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!”[x] 14 Jesus answered,[y] “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people[z] do not know where I came from or where I am going.[aa] 15 You people[ab] judge by outward appearances;[ac] I do not judge anyone.[ad] 16 But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate,[ae] because I am not alone when I judge,[af] but I and the Father who sent me do so together.[ag] 17 It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.[ah] 18 I testify about myself[ai] and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
19 Then they began asking[aj] him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.”[ak] 20 (Jesus[al] spoke these words near the offering box[am] while he was teaching in the temple courts.[an] No one seized him because his time[ao] had not yet come.)[ap]
Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going
21 Then Jesus[aq] said to them again,[ar] “I am going away, and you will look for me[as] but will die in your sin.[at] Where I am going you cannot come.” 22 So the Jewish leaders[au] began to say,[av] “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” 23 Jesus replied,[aw] “You people[ax] are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. 24 Thus I told you[ay] that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he,[az] you will die in your sins.”
25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied,[ba] “What I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge[bb] about you, but the Father[bc] who sent me is truthful,[bd] and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.”[be] 27 (They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.)[bf]
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