June
26
2
Samuel 19-21
2Sa
19:1 It was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for
Absalom.
2Sa
19:2 The victory that day was turned into mourning to all the
people; for the people heard say that day, The king grieves for his
son.
2Sa
19:3 The people got them by stealth that day into the city, as
people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
2Sa
19:4 The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud
voice, my son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!
2Sa
19:5 Joab came into the house to the king, and said, You have shamed
this day the faces of all your servants, who this day have saved your
life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives
of your wives, and the lives of your concubines;
2Sa
19:6 in that you love those who hate you, and hate those who love
you. For you have declared this day, that princes and servants are
nothing to you: for this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived,
and all we had died this day, then it had pleased you well.
2Sa
19:7 Now therefore arise, go out, and speak to comfort your
servants; for I swear by Yahweh, if you don't go out, not a man will
stay with you this night: and that would be worse to you than all the
evil that has happened to you from your youth until now.
2Sa
19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the
people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate: and all the
people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his
tent.
2Sa
19:9 All the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of
Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies,
and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is
fled out of the land from Absalom.
2Sa
19:10 Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now
therefore why don't you speak a word of bringing the king back?
2Sa
19:11 King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying,
Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are you the last to bring
the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come
to the king, to bring him
to his house.
2Sa
19:12 You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh: why then
are you the last to bring back the king?
2Sa
19:13 Say to Amasa, Aren't you my bone and my flesh? God do so to
me, and more also, if you aren't captain of the army before me
continually in the room of Joab.
2Sa
19:14 He bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the
heart of one man; so that they sent to
the king, saying,
Return, you and all your servants.
2Sa
19:15 So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. Judah came to
Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.
2Sa
19:16 Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim,
hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.
2Sa
19:17 There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the
servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty
servants with him; and they went through the Jordan in the presence
of the king.
2Sa
19:18 A ferry boat went to bring over the king's household, and to
do what he thought good. Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the
king, when he was come over the Jordan.
2Sa
19:19 He said to the king, Don't let my lord impute iniquity to me,
neither do you remember that which your servant did perversely the
day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should
take it to his heart.
2Sa
19:20 For your servant does know that I have sinned: therefore,
behold, I have come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to
go down to meet my lord the king.
2Sa
19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, Shall Shimei not be
put to death for this, because he cursed Yahweh's anointed?
2Sa
19:22 David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah,
that you should this day be adversaries to me? shall there any man be
put to death this day in Israel? for don't I know that I am this day
king over Israel?
2Sa
19:23 The king said to Shimei, You shall not die. The king swore to
him.
2Sa
19:24 Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and
he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed
his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came
home in peace.
2Sa
19:25 It happened, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king,
that the king said to him, Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?
2Sa
19:26 He answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for your
servant said, I will saddle me a donkey, that I may ride thereon, and
go with the king; because your servant is lame.
2Sa
19:27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord
the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in your
eyes.
2Sa
19:28 For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the
king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table.
What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the
king?
2Sa
19:29 The king said to him, Why do you speak any more of your
matters? I say, You and Ziba divide the land.
2Sa
19:30 Mephibosheth said to the king, yes, let him take all, because
my lord the king is come in peace to his own house.
2Sa
19:31 Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went
over the Jordan with the king, to conduct him over the Jordan.
2Sa
19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old: and
he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim;
for he was a very great man.
2Sa
19:33 The king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will
sustain you with me in Jerusalem.
2Sa
19:34 Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years
of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
2Sa
19:35 I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and
bad? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear
any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should
your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
2Sa
19:36 Your servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king:
and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
2Sa
19:37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my
own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your
servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him
what shall seem good to you.
2Sa
19:38 The king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will
do to him that which shall seem good to you: and whatever you shall
require of me, that will I do for you.
2Sa
19:39 All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over:
and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to
his own place.
2Sa
19:40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with
him: and all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half
the people of Israel.
2Sa
19:41 Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to
the king, Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and
brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David's
men with him?
2Sa
19:42 All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the
king is a close relative to us: why then are you angry for this
matter? have we eaten at all at the king's cost? or has he given us
any gift?
2Sa
19:43 The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have
ten parts in the king, and we have also more right
in David than you: why then did you despise us, that our advice
should not be first had in bringing back our king? The words of the
men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
2Sa
20:1 There happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba,
the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew the trumpet, and said, We
have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse: every man to his tents, Israel.
2Sa
20:2 So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and
followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with
their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
2Sa
20:3 David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten
women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put
them in custody, and provided them with sustenance, but didn't go in
to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in
widowhood.
2Sa
20:4 Then said the king to Amasa, Call me the men of Judah together
within three days, and be here present.
2Sa
20:5 So Amasa went to call the men of
Judah together; but he stayed longer than the set time which he had
appointed him.
2Sa
20:6 David said to Abishai, Now will Sheba the son of Bichri do us
more harm than did Absalom: take your lord's servants, and pursue
after him, lest he get him fortified cities, and escape out of our
sight.
2Sa
20:7 There went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites and
the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of
Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
2Sa
20:8 When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa
came to meet them. Joab was girded with his apparel of war that he
had put on, and thereon was a sash with a sword fastened on his waist
in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out.
2Sa
20:9 Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? Joab took
Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
2Sa
20:10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand:
so he struck him therewith in the body, and shed out his bowels to
the ground, and didn't strike him again; and he died. Joab and
Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
2Sa
20:11 There stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He who
favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab.
2Sa
20:12 Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the highway.
When the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa
out of the highway into the field, and cast a garment over him, when
he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.
2Sa
20:13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on
after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
2Sa
20:14 He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth
Maacah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and
went also after him.
2Sa
20:15 They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they
cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart;
and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it
down.
2Sa
20:16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear!
Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.' "
2Sa
20:17 He came near to her; and the woman said, Are you Joab? He
answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your
handmaid. He answered, I do hear.
2Sa
20:18 Then she spoke, saying, They were wont to speak in old time,
saying, They shall surely ask counsel
at Abel: and so they ended the matter.
2Sa
20:19 I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel: you
seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why will you swallow
up the inheritance of Yahweh?
2Sa
20:20 Joab answered, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should
swallow up or destroy.
2Sa
20:21 The matter is not so: but a man of the hill country of
Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand
against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will
depart from the city. The woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall
be thrown to you over the wall.
2Sa
20:22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut
off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He
blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to
his tent. Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
2Sa
20:23 Now Joab was over all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites;
2Sa
20:24 and Adoram was over the men subject to forced labor; and
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
2Sa
20:25 and Sheva was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
2Sa
20:26 and also Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.
2Sa
21:1 There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after
year; and David sought the face of Yahweh. Yahweh said, It is for
Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the
Gibeonites.
2Sa
21:2 The king called the Gibeonites, and said to them (now the
Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of
the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn to them: and Saul
sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and
Judah);
2Sa
21:3 and David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And
with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance
of Yahweh?
2Sa
21:4 The Gibeonites said to him, It is no matter of silver or gold
between us and Saul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any
man to death in Israel. He said, What you shall say, that will I do
for you.
2Sa
21:5 They said to the king, The man who consumed us, and who devised
against us, that
we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of
Israel,
2Sa
21:6 let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang
them up to Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh. The king
said, I will give them.
2Sa
21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son
of Saul, because of Yahweh's oath that was between them, between
David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
2Sa
21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,
whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of
Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of
Barzillai the Meholathite:
2Sa
21:9 He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they
hanged them in the mountain before Yahweh, and they fell all
seven together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the
first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.
2Sa
21:10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for
her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured
on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to
rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
2Sa
21:11 It was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the
concubine of Saul, had done.
2Sa
21:12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of
Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them
from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them,
in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
2Sa
21:13 and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones
of Jonathan his son: and they gathered the bones of those who were
hanged.
2Sa
21:14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the
country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they
performed all that the king commanded. After that God was entreated
for the land.
2Sa
21:15 The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went
down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines.
David grew faint;
2Sa
21:16 and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight
of whose spear was three hundred shekels
of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword,
thought to have slain David.
2Sa
21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the
Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him,
saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you don't
quench the lamp of Israel.
2Sa
21:18 It came to pass after this, that there was again war with the
Philistines at Gob: then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was
of the sons of the giant.
2Sa
21:19 There was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan
the son of Jaareoregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite's
brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
2Sa
21:20 There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great
stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six
toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
2Sa
21:21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's
brother, killed him.
2Sa
21:22 These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by
the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.