Tragic End of Saul and His Sons^(A)

10 Now ^(B)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, ^[a]Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³ The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶ So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to ^[b]strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10 (C)Then they put his armor in the ^[c]temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹ And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the ^(D)valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to ^(E)Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had ^[d]committed against the Lord, ^(F)because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because ^(G)he consulted a medium for guidance. ¹⁴ But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and ^(H)turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

David Made King over All Israel^(I)

11 Then ^(J)all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. ² Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord your ^(K)God said to you, ‘You shall ^(L)shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’ ” ³ Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And ^(M)they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord ^[e]by ^(N)Samuel.

The City of David^(O)

⁴ And David and all Israel ^(P)went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, ^(Q)where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. ⁵ But the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not come in here!” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁶ Now David said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be ^[f]chief and captain.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and became chief. ⁷ Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it ^[g]the City of David. ⁸ And he built the city around it, from ^[h]the Millo to the surrounding area. Joab ^[i]repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ So David ^(R)went on and became great, and the Lord of hosts was with ^(S)him.

The Mighty Men of David^(T)

¹⁰ Now ^(U)these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to ^(V)the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

¹¹ And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: ^(W)Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, ^(X)chief of ^[j]the captains; he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.

¹² After him was Eleazar the son of ^(Y)Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. ¹³ He was with David at ^[k]Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they ^[l]stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹⁵ Now three of the thirty chief men ^(Z)went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines encamped ^(AA)in the Valley of ^[m]Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁸ So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁹ And he said, “Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.

^20 (AB)Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of another ^[n]three. He had lifted up his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. ^21 (AC)Of the three he was more honored than the other two men. Therefore he became their captain. However he did not attain to the first three.

²² Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who ^[o]had done many deeds. ^(AD)He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. ²³ And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, ^[p]five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. ²⁵ Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁶ Also the mighty warriors were ^(AE)Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^27 [q]Shammoth the Harorite, ^(AF)Helez the ^[r]Pelonite, ^28 (AG)Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ^(AH)Abiezer the Anathothite, ^29 [s]Sibbechai the Hushathite, ^[t]Ilai the Ahohite, ^30 (AI)Maharai the Netophathite, ^[u]Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ^31 [v]Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin, ^(AJ)Benaiah the Pirathonite, ^32 [w]Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, ^[x]Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the ^[y]Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of ^[z]Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shageh the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of ^[aa]Sacar the Hararite, ^[ab]Eliphal the son of ^[ac]Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ^37 [ad]Hezro the Carmelite, ^[ae]Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the ^[af]Berothite (the armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ^41 (AK)Uriah the Hittite, ^[ag]Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite (a chief of the Reubenites) and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Maachah, Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵ Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

A Call to Repentance^(A)

1 In the eighth month ^(B)of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came ^(C)to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(D)Iddo the prophet, saying, ² “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return ^(E)to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be like your fathers, ^(F)to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(G)“Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.

“So they returned and said:

Vision of the Horses

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: ⁸ I saw by night, and behold, ^(J)a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were ^(K)horses: red, sorrel, and white. ⁹ Then I said, ^(L)“My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰ And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, ^(M)“These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”

^11 (N)So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is ^[a]resting quietly.”

The Lord Will Comfort Zion

¹² Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(O)how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry ^(P)these seventy years?”

¹³ And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with ^(Q)good and comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who spoke with me said to me, ^[b]“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

¹⁶ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:

¹⁷ “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Vision of the Horns

¹⁸ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four ^(Z)horns. ¹⁹ And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”

So he answered me, ^(AA)“These are the ^[f]horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?”

So he said, “These are the ^(AB)horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but ^[g]the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that ^(AC)lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”