Old/New Testament
21 After the people had suffered from a famine for three successive years, David asked the Eternal One why the famine lingered, and the answer came that the nation was guilty for not making amends for the bloodlust of King Saul, who slaughtered the people of Gibeon. 2 (The Gibeonites were not from Israel—they were related to the Amorites. Saul tried to annihilate them in his zeal for Israel and Judah, although the people of Israel had promised to spare them during the days of Joshua.) So David called for the leaders of Gibeon.
David: 3 What can I do, what can I give you, to lift this guilt from my land so that you will honor the Eternal’s chosen people?
Gibeonite Leaders: 4 Silver and gold won’t make things right for us with Saul’s kingdom. And it is not for us to tell you who should be subject to capital punishment in Israel.
David: I will do whatever you ask.
Gibeonite Leaders: 5 Saul attacked us and tried to destroy us, to wipe us off the map of Israel. 6 Give us seven of his descendants, and we will hang them on a tree in Gibeah before the Eternal, on His mountain.
David: I will give them to you.
7 Now the king did not give them Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson and Jonathan’s son, because of the sacred oath between David and Jonathan. 8 But he did take Saul’s two sons by Rizpah (daughter of Aiah), Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab (Saul’s daughter) that she had by Adriel (son of Barzillai the Meholathite). 9 David had them seized and handed them over to the Gibeonites, who executed them before the Eternal One on the mountain. All seven of them died together, in the spring of the year during the first days of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, spread out sackcloth on a rock to make a place to sit; and from the time her sons died until rain fell in late autumn, she refused to let the birds or wild animals desecrate the bodies. 11 When David heard what Saul’s concubine Rizpah had done, 12 he went and gathered the bones of Saul and Jonathan (which the people of Jabesh-gilead had stolen from the place where they were hanged in the Philistine public square in Beth-shan on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa). 13 He took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son and gathered the bones of those who had been impaled in Gibeon. 14 He had Saul and Jonathan buried in the tomb of their father Kish, in Zela in the land of Benjamin. All that David commanded was done; and afterward, God answered the prayers of the people of Israel for the land.
15 Philistia and Israel were at war again, and David and his soldiers fought them long and hard until at last he grew weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob (who was a descendant of Raphah) announced that he had come to kill David. He carried a bronze spear, the head of which weighed nearly 10 pounds, and he carried a new sword. 17 But Abishai, Zeruiah’s son, came to David’s aid. He attacked and killed this Philistine.
David’s Men (to David): You can’t go out to fight with us any longer. If you are killed, then the lamp of Israel will go out.
18 Later the Israelites fought the Philistines at Gob; and Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another Philistine warrior descended from the giant. 19 In another fight at Gob with the Philistines, Elhanan (son of Jaare-oregim of Bethlehem), killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was as large as a weaver’s beam. 20 Then in a battle at Gath, they fought against another famous warrior. He was a huge man with 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot—24 in all—and he was also descended from the giant. 21 When he insulted the people of Israel, Jonathan (the son of David’s brother Shimei) killed him. 22 All four of these great warriors were descended from the giant of Gath, but all of them were defeated by the skill of David and his men.
22 David composed the following song of praise to the Eternal because He delivered him from all of his enemies and especially from Saul.
At last the day comes when David has conquered—at least, temporarily—all his enemies, and he marks this day by rejoicing. In the same way that he composed songs to lament Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths, David composes a psalm of joy to the Lord who is his strong fortress and his security. He gives God the credit, but he also claims—and rightly, of course, in spite of his occasional transgressions—that he has tried to do what God asked him to do, has tried to keep the ways of God.
2 David: The Eternal is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
3 He is my True God, my stronghold in whom I take refuge,
My strong shield, my horn that calls forth rescue,
my tall-walled tower and strong refuge,
My savior from violence.
4 I call on the Eternal, who is worthy to be praised,
and I have been rescued from my enemies.
5 The waves of death surrounded me;
the torrents of terror tugged at me.
6 The sorrows of the grave[a] tightly tangled me;
the snares of death met me.
7 In my time of need I called upon the Eternal One;
I called to my True God for help.
He heard my voice from His temple,
and my cry came to His ears.
8 Because of His great anger,
the earth shook and staggered;
the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked.
9 Smoke billowed out from His nostrils
and devouring fire from His mouth;
glowing coals flamed from Him.
10 He bent the heavens and descended;
darkness is beneath His feet.
11 He rode upon a heavenly creature,[b] flying;
He soared swiftly on the wings of the wind.
12 He placed darkness around Him like a canopy
and made His home in dark watery clouds of the sky.
13 Out from His brightness,
hailstones and burning coals flared forth.
14 The Eternal thundered in the heavens,
the voice of the Most High speaking.
15 He shot forth His arrows and scattered the wicked;
He flung forth His lightning and struck them.
16 Then the deepest channels of the seas were revealed;
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Eternal One,
at the blast of wind breathed from Your nostrils.
17 He reached down from above me, He held me;
He pulled me from the raging waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from all those who hated me,
for they would have overwhelmed me.
19 When my enemies came for me on the day of my destruction,
the Eternal stepped in to support me.
20 He led me out onto a broad plain;
He delivered me because of His delight in me.
21 The Eternal One rewarded me because I sought righteousness;
He rewarded me because I kept my hands clean.
22 He rewarded me because I kept the ways of the Eternal
and have not walked away from my True God in wickedness.
23 For all His laws were there before me,
and I did not push His statutes away.
24 I made myself blameless before Him;
I kept myself from guilt and shame.
25 That’s why the Eternal has rewarded me for seeking righteousness;
He’s rewarded me because He sees I have remained pure.
26 To the good, You show Your goodness;
to the blameless, You prove to be blameless;
27 To the pure, You show Your purity;
to the crooked, You make Yourself twisted.
28 For You rescue weak people,
but the proud You bring low.
29 You are the lamp who lights my way, O Eternal One,
the Eternal, who lights up my darkness.
30 With Your help, I can conquer an army;
with Your help, I can vault over walls.
31 God has made an upright way;
the promise of the Eternal rings true;
He stands and shields all who hide in Him.
32 Who is the True God except the Eternal One?
Who stands like a rock except our God?
33 The True God who circled me with strength
puts the upright on His way.
34 He made me sure-footed as a deer
and placed me high up and safe.
35 He teaches me to fight
so that my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You have given me the shield of Your salvation,
and Your support has made me strong.
37 You taught me how to walk with care
so my feet would not slip.
38 I pursued my enemies and defeated them
and did not stop until all were destroyed.
39 When I eliminated them, they fell down beneath my feet
so they could not rise again.
40 For You equipped me with strength for battle,
and You made my enemies fall beneath me.
41 You made my enemies turn and run,
and all who hated me, I destroyed.
42 They looked everywhere, but no one came to save them;
they asked the Eternal for help, but He did not answer them.
43 I beat them until they were as small as the dust of the earth;
I flung them away and beat them down like mud in the gutters.
44 You delivered me from conflict with the peoples;
you raised me up to rule over nations;
people whom I did not know came to serve me.
45 Strangers came to me, cringing and afraid;
as soon as they heard about me, they obeyed me.
46 Strangers had their courage shrivel before them
and came fearfully to me from behind their high walls.
47 The Eternal One is alive! May my Rock be blessed;
and the True God, the Rock of my deliverance be exalted,
48 The God who avenged me
and tamed the peoples under me,
49 Who rescued me from all my foes.
You raised me up above my enemies;
You saved me from the violent ones.
50 For this, I will praise You, O Eternal One, among the nations
and sing praises to Your name.[c]
51 He is a tower of salvation for His king
and shows His loyal love to His anointed,
to David and his descendants, continually.[d]
Jesus: 24 What a hard thing it is for those with much wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it would be easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than it would be for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!
Listeners: 26 Then who can be liberated?
Jesus: 27 Remember, what is humanly impossible is possible with God.
Peter: 28 We have left our homes and followed You.
Jesus: 29 I’m telling you the truth: there is nobody who leaves his house or wife or siblings or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 who will not receive more than he has given up—much more—in this age and in the age to come. He will receive eternal life.
31 He took the twelve aside and spoke privately to them.
Jesus: Look, my friends, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the outsiders. They will mock Him, disgrace Him, and spit on Him; 33 they will scourge Him, and they will kill Him. And on the third day, He will rise from death.
34 But they had no comprehension of what He was talking about. The meaning was hidden from them, and they couldn’t grasp it.
35 Picture this:
Jesus is nearing the city of Jericho. A blind man is sitting there, begging by the roadside. 36 He can hear the sounds of the crowd accompanying Jesus, and he asks what’s going on.
Crowd: 37 Jesus of Nazareth is passing this way.
38 Then the man starts shouting.
Blind Man: Jesus, Son of King David, show mercy to me!
39 The people in the front of the crowd reprimand him and tell him to be quiet, but he just shouts louder.
Blind Man: Son of King David, show mercy to me!
40 Jesus stops and tells the people to bring the man over to Him. The man stands in front of Jesus.
Jesus: 41 What do you want Me to do for you?
Blind Man: Lord, let me receive my sight.
Jesus: 42 Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.
43 At that very instant, the man is able to see. He begins following Jesus, shouting praises to God; and everyone in the crowd, when they see what has happened, starts praising God too.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.