3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.^(A) David grew stronger and stronger,^(B) while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.^(C)

Abner Goes Over to David

⁶ During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner^(J) had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. ⁷ Now Saul had had a concubine^(K) named Rizpah^(L) daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸ Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head^(M)—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! ⁹ May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised^(N) him on oath ¹⁰ and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.”^{(O) 11} Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”

¹³ “Good,” said David. “I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me.”^{(P) 14} Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, “Give me my wife Michal,^(Q) whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

¹⁵ So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband^(R) Paltiel^(S) son of Laish. ¹⁶ Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim.^(T) Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.

¹⁷ Abner conferred with the elders^(U) of Israel and said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. ¹⁸ Now do it! For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines^(V) and from the hand of all their enemies.^(W)’”

¹⁹ Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin^(X) wanted to do. ²⁰ When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast^(Y) for him and his men. ²¹ Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant^(Z) with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.”^(AA) So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

²² Just then David’s men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.

²⁴ So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! ²⁵ You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”

²⁶ Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. ²⁷ Now when Abner^(AB) returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him^(AC) in the stomach, and he died.^(AD)

²⁸ Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent^(AE) before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May his blood^(AF) fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family!^(AG) May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore^(AH) or leprosy^[a] or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.”

³⁰ (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

³¹ Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth^(AI) and walk in mourning^(AJ) in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. ³² They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept^(AK) aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.

³³ The king sang this lament^(AL) for Abner:

And all the people wept over him again.

³⁵ Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(AN) if I taste bread^(AO) or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶ All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷ So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part^(AP) in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸ Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen^(AQ) in Israel this day? ³⁹ And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah^(AR) are too strong^(AS) for me.^(AT) May the Lord repay^(AU) the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”

Warriors Join David

12 These were the men who came to David at Ziklag,^(A) while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; ² they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed;^(B) they were relatives of Saul^(C) from the tribe of Benjamin):

⁸ Some Gadites^(F) defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions,^(G) and they were as swift as gazelles^(H) in the mountains.

¹⁴ These Gadites were army commanders; the least was a match for a hundred,^(I) and the greatest for a thousand.^{(J) 15} It was they who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks,^(K) and they put to flight everyone living in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Other Benjamites^(L) and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you.”

¹⁸ Then the Spirit^(M) came on Amasai,^(N) chief of the Thirty, and he said:

So David received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands.

¹⁹ Some of the tribe of Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (He and his men did not help the Philistines because, after consultation, their rulers sent him away. They said, “It will cost us our heads if he deserts to his master Saul.”)^{(P) 20} When David went to Ziklag,^(Q) these were the men of Manasseh who defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, leaders of units of a thousand in Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against raiding bands, for all of them were brave warriors, and they were commanders in his army. ²² Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.^[b]

Others Join David at Hebron

²³ These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron^(R) to turn^(S) Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said:^(T)

³⁸ All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel.^(Y) All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king. ³⁹ The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking,^(Z) for their families had supplied provisions for them. ⁴⁰ Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies^(AA) of flour, fig cakes, raisin^(AB) cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy^(AC) in Israel.

That Which Defiles^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^(B)

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b](D) 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^(H)

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^(I) will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d](J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(K)

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^(L)

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?”^(M) Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(N) and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^{(O) 20} These are what defile a person;^(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman^(Q)

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^{(R) 22} A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,^(S) have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”^(T)

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”^(U)

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him.^(V) “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!^(W) Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand^(X)(Y)(Z)

²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.^{(AA) 31} The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.^(AB)

³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;^(AC) they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them^(AD) and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.^{(AE) 38} The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.