David's Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ^(A)show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(B)Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show ^(C)the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of ^(D)Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” ⁴ The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of ^(E)Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. ⁶ And ^(F)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” ⁷ And David said to him, “Do not fear, ^(G)for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and ^(H)you shall eat at my table always.” ⁸ And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for ^(I)a dead dog such as I?”

⁹ Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson ^(J)shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had ^(K)fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ^(L)ate at David's^[a] table, like one of the king's sons. ¹² And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^(M)whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^(N)he ate always at the king's table. Now ^(O)he was lame in both his feet.

David Defeats Ammon and Syria

10 ^(P)After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally^[b] with Hanun the son of ^(Q)Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, ^(R)at their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of ^(S)Beth-rehob, and ^(T)the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(U)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^(V)Tob, 12,000 men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of ^(W)the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and ^(X)the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and ^(Y)the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

⁹ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹⁰ The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ^12 (Z)Be of good courage, and ^(AA)let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and ^(AB)may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ^(AC)the Euphrates.^[c] They came to Helam, with ^(AD)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded ^(AE)Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel ^(AF)and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for ^(A)giving thanks.

Peter Reports to the Church

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers^[a] who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, ^(B)the circumcision party^[b] criticized him, saying, ^3 (C)“You went to uncircumcised men and ^(D)ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ^5 (E)“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, ^(F)making no distinction. ^(G)These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ^14 (H)he will declare to you a message by which ^(I)you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, ^(J)the Holy Spirit fell on them ^(K)just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ^(L)‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then ^(M)God gave ^(N)the same gift to them as he gave to us ^(O)when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(P)who was I ^(Q)that I could stand in God's way?” ¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they ^(R)glorified God, saying, ^(S)“Then to the Gentiles also God has ^(T)granted ^(U)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (V)Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists^[c] also, ^(W)preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(X)the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed ^(Y)turned to the Lord. ²² The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw ^(Z)the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord ^(AA)with steadfast purpose, ²⁴ for he was a good man, ^(AB)full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people ^(AC)were added to the Lord. ²⁵ So Barnabas went to ^(AD)Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called ^(AE)Christians.

²⁷ Now in these days ^(AF)prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named ^(AG)Agabus stood up and foretold ^(AH)by the Spirit that there would be a great ^(AI)famine over all the world (this took place in the days of ^(AJ)Claudius). ²⁹ So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, ^(AK)to send relief to ^(AL)the brothers^[d] living in Judea. ^30 (AM)And they did so, sending it to ^(AN)the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.