The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

David's Mighty Men

^8 (H)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ^(I)Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.^[e] He wielded his spear^[f] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

⁹ And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of ^(J)Dodo, son of ^(K)Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. ¹⁰ He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

¹¹ And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the ^(L)Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi,^[g] where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

¹³ And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the ^(M)cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped ^(N)in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then ^(O)in the stronghold, and ^(P)the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁶ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁷ and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink ^(Q)the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸ Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.^[h] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men^[i] and killed them and won a name beside the three. ¹⁹ He was the most renowned of the thirty^[j] and became their commander, but he did not attain to ^(R)the three.

²⁰ And ^(S)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man^[k] of ^(T)Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels^[l] of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²¹ And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²³ He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

^24 (U)Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^25 (V)Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh ^(W)of Tekoa, ²⁷ Abiezer ^(X)of Anathoth, Mebunnai ^(Y)the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon ^(Z)the Ahohite, Maharai ^(AA)of Netophah, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah ^(AB)of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of ^(AC)Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah ^(AD)of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of ^(AE)Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of ^(AF)Bahurim, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ^33 (AG)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai ^(AH)of Maacah, ^(AI)Eliam the son of ^(AJ)Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵ Hezro^{[m] (AK)}of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan ^(AL)of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai ^(AM)of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ^38 (AN)Ira the ^(AO)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ^39 (AP)Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David's Census

24 ^(AQ)(AR)Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ^(AS)“Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,^[n] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, ^(AT)from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, ^(AU)“May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and began from ^(AV)Aroer,^[o] and from the city that is in the middle of the ^(AW)valley, toward Gad and on to ^(AX)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;^[p] and they came to Dan, and from Dan^[q] they went around to ^(AY)Sidon, ⁷ and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(AZ)Hivites and ^(BA)Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men ^(BB)who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin

¹⁰ But ^(BC)David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ^(BD)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done ^(BE)very foolishly.” ¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(BF)the prophet Gad, David's ^(BG)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[r] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(BH)three^[s] years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(BI)for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

^15 (BJ)So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from ^(BK)Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. ¹⁶ And when ^(BL)the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem ^(BM)to destroy it, ^(BN)the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel ^(BO)who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And ^(BP)the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^(BQ)Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^(BR)Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. ²¹ And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague ^(BS)may be averted from the people.” ²² Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the ^(BT)threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God ^(BU)accept you.” ²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels^[t] of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ^(BV)So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul^[a] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named ^(A)Timothy, ^(B)the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ² He was well spoken of by ^(C)the brothers^[b] at Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^(D)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance ^(E)the decisions ^(F)that had been reached by ^(G)the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ^5 (H)So the churches were strengthened in ^(I)the faith, and they increased in numbers ^(J)daily.

The Macedonian Call

⁶ And ^(K)they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^(L)the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^(M)to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when Paul^[c] had seen the vision, immediately ^(N)we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we ^(O)made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(P)Philippi, which is a leading city of the^[d] district of Macedonia and ^(Q)a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³ And ^(R)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(S)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(T)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(U)who was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^(V)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(W)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(X)prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to ^(Y)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(Z)a spirit of ^(AA)divination and ^(AB)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, ^(AC)crying out, “These men are ^(AD)servants of ^(AE)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(AF)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(AG)“I command you ^(AH)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(AI)it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But ^(AJ)when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(AK)dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They ^(AL)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(AM)as Romans to accept or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^(AN)to beat them with rods. ²³ And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴ Having received this order, he put them into the inner ^(AO)prison and fastened their feet in ^(AP)the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25 (AQ)About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AR)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^(AS)all the doors were opened, and ^(AT)everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^(AU)was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ And the jailer^[e] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^(AV)fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^(AW)what must I do to be ^(AX)saved?” ³¹ And they said, ^(AY)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^(AZ)and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(BA)the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^(BB)was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^(BC)rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵ But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^(BD)uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^(BE)they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^(BF)asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they went out of the prison and visited ^(BG)Lydia. And when they had seen ^(BH)the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.