The Daily Audio Bible
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David and the Ammonites
19 After this, Nahash king of the Ammonites died, and his son became king in his place.
2 David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father.
But when David’s officials came to the land of the Ammonites to console Hanun, 3 the officers of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you really think David is honoring your father because he has sent messengers to express sympathy to you? Haven’t his officials come to you as scouts to spy on the land and to overthrow it?”
4 So Hanun seized David’s officials, shaved them, and cut off their clothing up to the middle of their buttocks and sent them away.
5 After they were sent on their way, David received a report about these men. David sent messengers to meet them, for the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”
6 The Ammonites saw that they had made themselves a disgusting stench to David. Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents[a] of silver to hire chariots and charioteers for themselves from Aram of the Two Rivers, from Aram Ma’akah, and from Zobah. 7 They hired thirty-two thousand chariots, the king of Ma’akah, and his troops. They came and set up camp in front of Medeba. The Ammonites were called together from their cities, and they came for battle.
8 When David heard about this, he deployed Joab and the entire army of powerful warriors. 9 The Ammonites came out and lined up in battle formation in front of the entrance to the city. The kings who had come from Aram were lined up by themselves in the open country.
10 Joab saw that the battle lines were drawn up against him both in front of him and behind him, so he chose some of the best troops of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans. 11 The rest of the army he put under the command of his brother Abishai. They were deployed to confront the Ammonites.
12 He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, you will come to my rescue, and if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will rescue you. 13 Be strong and act courageously for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”
14 Joab and the people who were with him confronted the Arameans in the battle, and the Arameans fled from him.
15 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Joab’s brother Abishai and entered the city. Joab returned to Jerusalem.
16 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated, they sent messengers and summoned the Arameans who were from beyond the Euphrates. Shophak[b] the commander of the army of Hadadezer was leading them.
17 This was reported to David, so he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came upon them and deployed for battle against them. David deployed for battle to engage Aram, and they fought against each other.
18 The Arameans fled from Israel. David killed seven thousand Aramean charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers.[c] He also killed Shophak the commander of the army.
19 The kings subject to[d] Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel. They made peace with David and became subject to him. Then Aram was not willing to rescue the Ammonites anymore.
20 When springtime arrived, the time when kings go out to war, Joab led out the army, ravaged the land of the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and pulled it down.
2 David took the gold crown of their king[e] from his head. It weighed seventy-five pounds[f] and had a precious stone in it. It was placed on[g] David’s head. He brought out large amounts of plunder from the city. 3 He brought out the people who were in the city. He put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes.[h] David did the same to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.
War With the Philistines
4 After this, war arose at Gezer[i] with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai,[j] one of the descendants of Rapha the giant,[k] and the Philistines were subdued.
5 There was another battle with the Philistines. Elhanan, the son of Jair, killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam.
6 There was another battle, this time at Gath. There was a very tall man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four digits in all. He also was descended from Rapha the giant.[l] 7 He taunted Israel, but Jonathan, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him. 8 These were descended from the giant in Gath. They fell by the hand of David and the men who served him.
David’s Census
21 Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count Israel. 2 David said to Joab and to the officers of the army, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan. Let me know how many they are.”
3 Joab said, “The Lord will multiply his people a hundred times. Are not all of them your servants, my lord the king? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should there be guilt upon Israel?”
4 But the word of the king overruled Joab.
Joab went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. 5 He reported the total number of the people to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could draw the sword, including four hundred seventy thousand from Judah who could draw the sword. 6 He did not include Levi and Benjamin in the census because the king’s directive was offensive to Joab. 7 This action was also evil in the eyes of God, so he struck Israel.
8 David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Please forgive the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9 The Lord said to Gad, David’s seer, 10 “Go tell David this is what the Lord has said. I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will impose it on you.”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says. Choose one of these for yourself: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation in which you are overwhelmed by the sword of your enemies, or three days of the sword of the Lord bringing plague on the land, with the angel of the Lord causing destruction throughout all the territory of Israel. Now decide what answer I should take back to the one who sent me with this directive.”
13 David said to Gad, “This puts me in a difficult position. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, because his compassion is very great. But do not let me fall into the hands of man.”
14 The Lord caused a plague[m] in Israel. Seventy thousand men from Israel fell. 15 God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. The Lord saw the destruction, and he relented from this devastation. He said to the destroying angel, “Enough. Hold back your hand.”
The angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan[n] the Jebusite.
16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and the heavens, with his sword drawn in his hand and stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the elders, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 David said to God, “Look, I am the one who said to count the people. I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep! What have they done, O Lord my God? Please let your hand be on me and on the house of my father. But not a plague on your people!”
18 The angel of the Lord told Gad to tell David to go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 David went up according to the directive from Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord.
20 While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel. Ornan and his four sons hid themselves.
David Builds an Altar
21 As David approached Ornan, Ornan looked up and saw David. He went out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground. 22 David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor. I will build an altar to the Lord on it. You will give it to me for full price, and the plague will be averted from the people.”
23 Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself. My lord the king may do what is good in his eyes. Look here. I have given the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I have given everything.”
24 David said to Ornan, “No. I am determined to buy it for the full price, because I will not take what belongs to you for the Lord and for burnt offerings without paying for it.”
25 So David weighed out six hundred shekels[o] of gold to Ornan for the site.
26 Then David built an altar to the Lord there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called to the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar for burnt offerings. 27 The Lord spoke to the angel. The angel put his sword back into its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.
29 The Dwelling for the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering at that time were at the high place at Gibeon. 30 David was not able to go before it to seek answers from God because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Does Circumcision Make a Difference?
25 Indeed, circumcision has value if you observe the law. On the other hand, if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So, if an uncircumcised person keeps the righteous requirements of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be credited to him as circumcision? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically, but who fulfills the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker, even though you have the written law and circumcision.
28 In fact, a Jew who is merely one outwardly is not really a Jew, and circumcision that is only outward in the flesh is not really circumcision. 29 Rather, a real Jew is one on the inside, and his circumcision is of the heart—a spiritual circumcision, not one based on carrying out the letter of the law. That person’s praise does not come from people but from God.
A Jew’s Advantage and God’s Faithfulness
3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? Or what benefit is there to circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Indeed, above all else, they were entrusted with the messages of God.
3 Now what if some did not believe? Their unbelief[a] will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! God must be true, even though everyone is found to be a liar, just as it is written:
So that you would be justified whenever you speak,
and win the case when you judge.[b]
An Absurd Conclusion
5 Now if our unrighteousness demonstrates God’s righteousness, what shall we say? God is not unjust in bringing his wrath on us, is he? (I am speaking from a human point of view.) 6 Absolutely not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 For example,[c] someone might say, “If by my lie the truth of God increases all the more to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?” 8 And why not say (as some slanderously claim we say), “Let us do evil so that good may result.” Their condemnation is deserved.
Psalm 11
Faith, Not Flight
Heading
For the choir director. By David.
The Fear of the Fainthearted
1 In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul:
“Flee to your mountain like a bird.
2 Look! The wicked bend their bow.
They set their arrow against the string
to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being torn down,
what can the righteous do?”
David’s Answer
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
He focuses on[a] the children of Adam.[b]
5 The Lord is righteous.
He examines the wicked.
He really hates[c] those who love violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain down fiery coals and sulfur.[d]
A scorching wind will be the cup given to them.
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness.
The upright will view his face.
10 A life of luxury is not appropriate for a fool.
How much less appropriate for a slave to rule over princes.
11 Good sense makes a person slow to anger,
and it is to his credit when he overlooks an offense.
12 The king’s anger is like a lion’s growl,
but his favor is refreshing like dew on the grass.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.