David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^(A)show him ^[a]kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(B)Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

³ Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show ^(C)the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is ^(D)lame in his feet.”

⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of ^(E)Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

⁶ Now when ^(F)Mephibosheth^[b] the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

⁷ So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

⁸ Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such ^(G)a dead dog as I?”

⁹ And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ^(H)“I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰ You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son ^(I)shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had ^(J)fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at ^[c]my table like one of the king’s sons.” ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son ^(K)whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, ^(L)for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he ^(M)was lame in both his feet.

The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated^(N)

10 It happened after this that the ^(O)king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show ^(P)kindness to Hanun the son of ^(Q)Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. ³ And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?”

⁴ Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, ^(R)at their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ^[d]ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”

⁶ When the people of Ammon saw that they ^(S)had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired ^(T)the Syrians of ^(U)Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of ^(V)Maacah one thousand men, and from ^(W)Ish-Tob twelve thousand men. ⁷ Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of ^(X)the mighty men. ⁸ Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And ^(Y)the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

⁹ When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. ¹⁰ And the rest of the people he put under the command of ^(Z)Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. ¹¹ Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ^12 (AA)Be of good courage, and let us ^(AB)be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may ^(AC)the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴ When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to ^(AD)Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. ¹⁶ Then ^[e]Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ^[f]the River, and they came to Helam. And ^[g]Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. ¹⁷ When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand ^(AE)horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants to ^[h]Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and ^(AF)served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore.

Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

6 After ^(B)these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of ^(C)Tiberias. ² Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were ^(D)diseased.^{[a] 3} And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

^4 (E)Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. ^5 (F)Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to ^(G)Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

⁷ Philip answered Him, ^(H)“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

⁸ One of His disciples, ^(I)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ⁹ “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, ^(J)but what are they among so many?”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them ^[b]to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” ¹³ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly ^(K)the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(L)

¹⁵ Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him ^(M)king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

^16 (N)Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸ Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. ¹⁹ So when they had rowed about ^[c]three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were ^(O)afraid. ²⁰ But He said to them, ^(P)“It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.