David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David ^(A)inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his ^[a]bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” ² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but ^(B)of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them ^(C)in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.

³ Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^(D)the inheritance of the Lord?”

⁴ And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.”

So he said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵ Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, ⁶ let seven men of his descendants be delivered ^(E)to us, and we will hang them before the Lord ^(F)in Gibeah of Saul, ^(G)whom the Lord chose.”

And the king said, “I will give them.”

⁷ But the king spared ^(H)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of ^(I)the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸ So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of ^(J)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of ^[b]Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she ^[c]brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; ⁹ and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill ^(K)before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰ Now ^(L)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, ^(M)from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.

¹¹ And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹² Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of ^(N)Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of ^[d]Beth Shan, where the ^(O)Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. ¹³ So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. ¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in ^(P)Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that ^(Q)God heeded the prayer for the land.

Philistine Giants Destroyed^(R)

¹⁵ When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of ^[e]the ^(S)giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. ¹⁷ But ^(T)Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, ^(U)“You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the ^(V)lamp of Israel.”

^18 (W)Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^(X)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed ^[f]Saph, who was one of the sons of ^[g]the giant. ¹⁹ Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where ^(Y)Elhanan the son of ^[h]Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed ^(Z)the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰ Yet again ^(AA)there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to ^[i]the giant. ²¹ So when he ^(AB)defied Israel, Jonathan the son of ^[j]Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

^22 (AC)These four were born to ^[k]the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption

A Psalm of David.

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple^(A)

24 Then ^(B)Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, ^(C)not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age^(D)

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, ^(E)the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ^(F)“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: ^(G)“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For ^(H)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ^(I)and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of ^(J)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for ^[a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(K)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^(L)famines, ^[b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

^9 (M)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then ^(N)many false prophets will rise up and ^(O)deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ^(P)cold. ^13 (Q)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this ^(R)gospel of the kingdom ^(S)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation^(T)

^15 (U)“Therefore when you see the ^(V)‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” ^(W)(whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For ^(Y)then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; ^(Z)but for the ^[c]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

^23 (AA)“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(AB)false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, ^(AC)if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶ “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. ^27 (AD)For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^28 (AE)For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man^(AF)

^29 (AG)“Immediately after the tribulation of those days ^(AH)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ^30 (AI)Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ^(AJ)and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ^31 (AK)And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His ^[d]elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree^(AL)

³² “Now learn ^(AM)this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So you also, when you see all these things, know ^(AN)that ^[e]it is near—at the doors! ³⁴ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(AO)this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ^35 (AP)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour^(AQ)

^36 (AR)“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of ^[f]heaven, ^(AS)but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^38 (AT)For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^40 (AU)Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ^42 (AV)Watch therefore, for you do not know what ^[g]hour your Lord is coming. ^43 (AW)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what ^[h]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ^44 (AX)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant^(AY)

^45 (AZ)“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food ^[i]in due season? ^46 (BA)Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷ Assuredly, I say to you that ^(BB)he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master ^(BC)is delaying ^[j]his coming,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is ^(BD)not aware of, ⁵¹ and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. ^(BE)There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.