⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog,^(A) that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds^(B) and the wild animals!^(C)”

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,^(D) but I come against you in the name^(E) of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.^{(F) 46} This day the Lord will deliver^(G) you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses^(H) of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world^(I) will know that there is a God in Israel.^{(J) 47} All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword^(K) or spear that the Lord saves;^(L) for the battle^(M) is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling^(N) and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut^(O) off his head with the sword.^(P)

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,^(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab^(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.^(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.^(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof^(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw^(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,^(G) the daughter of Eliam^(H) and the wife of Uriah^(I) the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her.^(J) She came to him, and he slept^(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)^(L) Then she went back home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah^(M) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”^(N) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark^(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,^[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love^(P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

¹² Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter^(Q) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down^(R) and die.^(S)”

¹⁶ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver^(A) between two opinions? If the Lord^(B) is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left,^(C) but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.^{(D) 23} Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call^(E) on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord.^(F) The god who answers by fire^(G)—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” ²⁶ So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called^(H) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;^(I) no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”^{(J) 28} So they shouted louder and slashed^(K) themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.^(L) But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.^(M)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar^(N) of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”^{(O) 32} With the stones he built an altar in the name^(P) of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged^(Q) the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the time^(R) of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,^(S) Isaac and Israel, let it be known^(T) today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.^{(U) 37} Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know^(V) that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ Then the fire^(W) of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate^(X) and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”^(Y)

²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against^(A) him:

²⁹ “This will be the sign^(V) for you, Hezekiah:

“The zeal^(AC) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

³² “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

⁸ Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs^(A) are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey^(B) the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.^{(C) 9} If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents^[a] of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”^(D)

¹⁰ So the king took his signet ring^(E) from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev^(A) in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^{(B) 2} Hanani,^(C) one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant^(D) that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

³ They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.^(E)”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.^(F) For some days I mourned and fasted^(G) and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:

I was cupbearer^(U) to the king.