Jethro's Advice

18 ^(A)Jethro, ^(B)the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her ^(C)two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (^(D)for he said, ^(E)“I have been a sojourner^[a] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[b] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the ^(F)mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I,^[c] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷ Moses ^(G)went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and ^(H)kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law ^(I)all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, ^(J)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that ^(K)the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they ^(L)dealt arrogantly with the people.”^[d]

David Defeats Ammon and Syria

10 ^(A)After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally^[a] with Hanun the son of ^(B)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, ^(C)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 ^(D)Beth-rehob, and ^(E)the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(F)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^(G)Tob, 12,000 men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of ^(H)the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and ^(I)the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and ^(J)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 (K)Be of good courage, and ^(L)let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and ^(M)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 ^(N)the Euphrates.^[b] They came to Helam, with ^(O)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 ^(P)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 ^(Q)and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, ^(E)like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^(F)very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. ³ And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^(G)whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ^6 (H)I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^(I)I will build them up, and not tear them down; ^(J)I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ^7 (K)I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, ^(L)and they shall be my people ^(M)and I will be their God, ^(N)for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(O)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(P)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(Q)dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will make them ^(R)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(S)a reproach, ^(T)a byword, ^(U)a taunt, and ^(V)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(W)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”