Ammon and Aram Defeated

10 ^(A)Now it happened afterward that ^(B)the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^(C)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent ^[a]some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “^[b]Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants ^[c]to console you? ^(D)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and ^(E)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(F)cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”

⁶ Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^(G)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and ^(H)hired the Arameans of ^(I)Beth-rehob and the ^(J)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of ^(K)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men. ⁷ When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors. ⁸ And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle ^(L)at the entrance of the ^[d]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(M)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

⁹ Now when Joab saw that ^[e]the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans. ¹⁰ But the remainder of the people he placed ^[f]under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. ^12 (N)Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and ^(O)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and ^(P)they fled from him. ¹⁴ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. ^(Q)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[g]defeated by Israel, they assembled together. ^16 (R)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and ^(S)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[h]led them. ¹⁷ Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed ^(T)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been ^[i]defeated by Israel, ^(U)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

War with Philistine Giants

20 ^(A)Then it happened ^[a]in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. And ^(B)Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it. ^2 (C)David took the crown of ^[b]their king from his head, and he found it to weigh a ^[c]talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoils of the city, a very great amount. ³ He brought out the people who were in it, ^(D)and ^[d]put them to work at saws, iron picks, and axes. And David did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

^4 (E)Now it came about after this, that war ^[e]broke out at ^[f]Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite ^[g]killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the ^[h]giants, and they were subdued. ⁵ And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of ^(F)Jair ^[i]killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the ^(G)shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. ⁷ When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, ^[j]killed him. ⁸ These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Prayer for Victory over Enemies.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is like ^[b]a king who ^[c]held a ^(B)wedding feast for his son. ³ And he ^(C)sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he ^(D)sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own ^[d]farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. ⁷ Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go to ^(E)the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[e]dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the ^[f]dinner guests, he saw ^(F)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘^(G)Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into ^(H)the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^[g](I)called, but few are ^(J)chosen.”

Poll-tax to Caesar

^15 (K)Then the Pharisees went and ^[h]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[i]in what He said. ¹⁶ And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(L)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ^[j]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[k]are not partial to anyone. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[l]permissible to pay a ^[m](M)poll-tax to ^(N)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[n]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the ^(O)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a ^[o]denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(P)Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² And hearing this, they were amazed; and ^(Q)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (R)On that day some ^(S)Sadducees (who say ^(T)there is no resurrection) came to ^[p]Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(U)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up ^[q]children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no ^[r]children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(V)since you do not ^[s]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither ^(W)marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ³² ‘^(X)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ When the crowds heard this, ^(Y)they were astonished at His teaching.

^34 (Z)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(AA)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, ^[t](AB)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(AC)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[u]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(AD)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (AE)Upon these two commandments ^[v]hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

^41 (AF)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴² “What do you think about the ^[w]Christ? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(AG)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then ^[x]how does David ^[y](AH)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ ^[z]how is He his son?” ^46 (AJ)No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.