David Learns of Saul’s Death

1 Now it came about after ^(A)the death of Saul, when David had returned from ^(B)the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David stayed two days in Ziklag. ² And on the third day, behold, ^(C)a man came from ^[a]Saul’s camp ^(D)with his clothes torn and ^[b]dust on his head. And it happened when he came to David, ^(E)he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. ³ Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ David said to him, “^(F)How did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^(G)Mount Gilboa, and behold, ^(H)Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen had overtaken him. ⁷ When he looked behind himself, he saw me, and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ Then he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ^[c]answered him, ‘^(I)I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ‘Please stand next to me and finish me off, for ^[d]agony has seized me because my ^[e]life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰ So I stood next to him ^(J)and finished him off, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^(K)I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then ^(L)David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they mourned and wept and ^(M)fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ Then David said to the young man who informed him, “Where are you from?” And he ^[f]answered, “^(N)I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ And David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^(O)to reach out with your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ Then David called one of the young men and said, “Come forward, ^[g]put him to death.” ^(P)So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, “^[h](Q)Your blood is on your head, because ^(R)your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have finished off the Lord’s anointed.’”

David’s Song of Mourning for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David ^(S)sang this song of mourning over Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the mourning song of the bow; behold, it is written in ^(T)the Book of Jashar.

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^(A)son of Shelemiah, and ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘Anyone who ^(C)stays in this city will die by the ^(D)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(E)life as plunder, and stay alive.’ ³ This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be ^(F)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” ⁴ Then the ^(G)officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is ^[a](H)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^[b]all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(I)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” ⁵ And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[c]hands; for the king ^(J)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(K)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(L)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. ⁷ But ^(M)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^[d](N)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^(O)Gate of Benjamin; ⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(P)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ^[e]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^[f]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(Q)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great ^(T)wonders and ^[i]signs among the people. ⁹ But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both ^(U)Cyrenians and ^(V)Alexandrians, and some from ^(W)Cilicia and ^[j](X)Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they were unable to ^[k]cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. ¹¹ Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they ^(Y)came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him ^[l]before ^(Z)the ^[m]Council. ¹³ They put forward ^(AA)false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop ^[n]speaking against this ^(AB)holy place and the Law; ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that ^(AC)this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change ^(AD)the customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵ And all who were sitting in the ^[o](AE)Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.

¹⁷ This ^(A)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “^(B)If the world hates you, ^[a]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(C)I chose you out of the world, ^(D)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(E)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(F)they will persecute you as well; if they ^(G)followed My word, they will follow yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(H)on account of My name, ^(I)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ^22 (J)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[b]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates Me hates My Father also. ^24 (K)If I had not done among them ^(L)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[c]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But this has happened so that the word that is written in their ^(M)Law will be fulfilled: ‘^(N)They hated Me for no reason.’

²⁶ “When the ^[d](O)Helper comes, ^(P)whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, ^(Q)the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, ^(R)He will testify about Me, ²⁷ and ^[e](S)you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me ^(T)from the beginning.