2 Samuel 23

New American Standard Bible

David’s Last Song

23 Now these are the last words of David.

David the son of Jesse declares,
^(A)The man who was raised on high,
^(B)The anointed of the God of Jacob
And the sweet psalmist of Israel, declares,
²“^(C)The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
And His word was on my tongue.
³The God of Israel said it;
^(D)The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘^(E)He who rules over mankind righteously,
^(F)Who rules in the fear of God,
⁴^(G)Is like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the fresh grass springs out of the earth
From sunshine after rain.’
⁵Is my house not indeed so with God?
For ^(H)He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Properly ordered in all things, and secured;
For will He not indeed make
All my salvation and all my delight grow?
⁶^(I)But the worthless, every one of them, are like scattered thorns,
Because they cannot be taken in hand;
⁷Instead, the man who touches them
Must be ^[a]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And ^(J)they will be completely burned with fire in their ^[b]place.”

David’s Mighty Men

⁸^(K)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the ^[c]captains; he was called Adino the Eznite because of eight hundred who were killed by him at one time. ⁹And after him was Eleazar the son of ^(L)Dodo the ^(M)Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had ^[d]withdrawn. ¹⁰^(N)He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and ^[e]it clung to the sword, and ^(O)the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.

¹¹Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a ^(P)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered ^[f]into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹²But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and ^(Q)the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the ^(R)cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in ^(S)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴David was then ^(T)in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵And ^(U)David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” ¹⁶^(V)So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it, but ^(W)poured it out as an offering to the Lord; ¹⁷and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! ^(X)Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸Now ^(Y)Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was ^(Z)chief of the ^[g]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred ^[h]and killed them, and had a name ^[i]as well as the three. ¹⁹He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.

²⁰Then ^(AA)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of ^(AB)Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, ^[j]killed the ^[k]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹And he ^[l]killed an Egyptian, ^[m]an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²²These things ^(AC)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name ^[n]as well as the three mighty men. ²³He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

²⁴^(AD)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵^(AE)Shammah the ^(AF)Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the ^(AG)Tekoite, ²⁷Abiezer the ^(AH)Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the ^(AI)Netophathite, ²⁹^(AJ)Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of ^(AK)Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, ³⁰Benaiah a ^(AL)Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of ^(AM)Gaash, ³¹Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the ^(AN)Barhumite, ³²Eliahba the ^(AO)Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³^(AP)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of ^(AQ)the Maacathite, ^(AR)Eliam the son of ^(AS)Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵^(AT)Hezro the ^(AU)Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶Igal the son of Nathan of ^(AV)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the ^(AW)Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸Ira the ^(AX)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹and ^(AY)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

Footnotes

2 Samuel 23:7 Lit filled
2 Samuel 23:7 Lit sitting
2 Samuel 23:8 Or three
2 Samuel 23:9 Lit gone up
2 Samuel 23:10 Lit his hand
2 Samuel 23:11 Or possibly, at Lehi
2 Samuel 23:18 As in two Heb mss and Syriac; MT three
2 Samuel 23:18 Lit slain ones
2 Samuel 23:18 Lit among the
2 Samuel 23:20 Lit struck
2 Samuel 23:20 Or two warriors of Moab
2 Samuel 23:21 Lit struck
2 Samuel 23:21 Lit a man of appearance
2 Samuel 23:22 Lit among the

Psalm 28

New American Standard Bible

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.

A Psalm of David.

28 To You, Lord, I call;
My ^(A)rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You ^(B)are silent to me,
I will become like those who ^(C)go down to the pit.
²Hear the ^(D)sound of my pleadings when I cry to You for help,
When I ^(E)raise my hands ^(F)toward ^[a]Your holy ^(G)sanctuary.
³^(H)Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who practice injustice,
Who ^(I)speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
⁴Give back to them ^(J)according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Give back to them according to the work of their hands;
Repay them what is due them.
⁵Because they ^(K)do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
Because He ^(L)has heard the sound of my pleading.
⁷The Lord is my ^(M)strength and my ^(N)shield;
My heart ^(O)trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore ^(P)my heart triumphs,
And with ^(Q)my song I shall thank Him.
⁸The Lord is ^[b]their ^(R)strength,
And He is a refuge of ^(S)salvation to His anointed.
⁹^(T)Save Your people and bless ^(U)Your inheritance;
Be their ^(V)shepherd also, and ^(W)carry them forever.

Footnotes

Psalm 28:2 Lit the innermost place of Your sanctuary
Psalm 28:8 A few mss and ancient versions the strength of His people

Matthew 26:1-30

New American Standard Bible

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 ^(A)When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, ²“^(B)You know that after two days ^(C)the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be ^(D)handed over for crucifixion.”

³^(E)At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in ^(F)the courtyard of the high priest named ^(G)Caiaphas; ⁴and they ^(H)plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him. ⁵But they were saying, “Not during the festival, ^(I)otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”

The Precious Ointment

⁶^(J)Now when Jesus was in ^(K)Bethany, at the home of Simon ^[a]the Leper, ⁷^(L)a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. ⁸But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? ⁹For this perfume could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? For she has done a good deed for Me. ¹¹For you always have ^(M)the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. ¹²For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it ^(N)to prepare Me for burial. ¹³Truly I say to you, ^(O)wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Judas’ Bargain

¹⁴^(P)Then one of the twelve, named ^(Q)Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What are you willing to give me ^[b]to ^[c]^(R)betray Him to you?” And ^(S)they set out for him thirty ^[d]pieces of silver. ¹⁶And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to ^[e]betray ^[f]Jesus.

¹⁷^(T)Now on the first day of ^[g]^(U)Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and ^[h]asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸And He said, “Go into the city to ^(V)a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “^(W)My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

The Last Passover

²⁰^(X)Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the ^[i]twelve. ²¹And as they were eating, He said, “^(Y)Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²²Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: “Surely it is not I, Lord?” ²³And He answered, “^(Z)He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. ²⁴The Son of Man is going away ^(AA)just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! ^(AB)It would have been good ^[j]for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵And ^(AC)Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, ^(AD)Rabbi?” Jesus *said to him, “^(AE)You have said it yourself.”

The Lord’s Supper Instituted

²⁶^(AF)Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and ^[k]^(AG)after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸for ^(AH)this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for ^(AI)many for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”