David’s Triumphs

8 ^(A)Now it happened afterward that David ^[a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[b]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (B)And He ^[c]defeated ^(C)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and a full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David ^[d]defeated ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[e]power at the Euphrates River. ⁴ And David captured from him ^[f]1,700 horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots. ⁵ When ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ^[g]killed twenty-two thousand men among the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[h]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^[i]Betah and ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Now when Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had ^[j]defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent his son ^[k]Joram to King David to ^[l]greet him and bless him, because he had fought Hadadezer and ^[m]defeated him; for Hadadezer ^[n]had been at war with Toi. And ^[o]Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)consecrated these gifts to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[p]Aram, ^(O)Moab, ^(P)the sons of Ammon, ^(Q)the Philistines, ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from ^[q]killing eighteen thousand ^[r]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)the Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David ^[s]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^16 (W)Joab the son of Zeruiah was commander over the army, and ^(X)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(Y)secretary. ^17 (Z)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(AA)priests, and Seraiah was ^(AB)scribe. ^18 (AC)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^[t]was over the ^(AD)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[u](AE)chief ministers.

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Then David said, “Is there ^[v]anyone still left of the house of Saul, ^(AF)so that I could show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they summoned him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^(AG)Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ Then the king said, “Is there no one remaining of the house of Saul to whom I could show the ^(AH)kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^(AI)There is still a son of Jonathan, one who is disabled in both feet.” ⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^(AJ)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent ^[w]messengers who brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. ^6 (AK)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^(AL)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” ⁷ Then David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for ^(AM)I will assuredly show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I ^(AN)will restore to you all the ^[x]land of your ^[y]grandfather Saul; and ^(AO)you yourself shall ^[z]eat at my table regularly.” ⁸ Again he prostrated himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should be concerned about ^(AP)a dead dog like me?”

⁹ Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “^(AQ)Everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ^[aa]grandson. ¹⁰ You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson will have food ^[ab]to eat; nevertheless ^(AR)Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, ^(AS)shall ^[ac]eat at my table regularly.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “In accordance ^(AT)with everything that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at ^[ad]David’s table as one of the king’s sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because ^(AU)he ate at the king’s table regularly. And ^(AV)he was disabled in his two feet.

David’s Kingdom Strengthened

18 Now after this ^(A)it came about that David ^[a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his ^[b]rule to the river Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans of ^[c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(B)of Zobah, David ^[d]killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of ^[e]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were ^[f]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[g]Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^(C)Solomon made the bronze ^[h]Sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹ Now when ^[i]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[j]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[k]Hadoram his son to King David to ^[l]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had ^[m]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah ^[n]defeated eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he ^[o]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^15 (D)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.

David’s Messengers Abused

19 ^(E)Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him. ³ But the commanders among the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “^[p]Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you to search, to demolish, and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then certain people went and told David about the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, because the men were very humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow back, then return.”

⁶ When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent ^[q]a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and ^(F)Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite ^(G)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle. ⁸ When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹ The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

Ammon and Aram Defeated

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the ^[r]battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel and lined them up against the Arameans. ¹¹ But the remainder of the people he placed ^[s]under the command of ^[t]Abshai his brother; and they lined up against the sons of Ammon. ¹² He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the benefit of our people and the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him. ¹⁵ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from his brother Abshai and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[u]defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[v]leading them. ¹⁷ When it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle formation against the Arameans, they fought against him. ¹⁸ And the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed of the Arameans seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers; and he put Shophach the commander of the army to death. ¹⁹ So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been ^[w]defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. So the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(A)When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at ^(B)the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” ⁴ Now ^(C)this ^[a]took place so that what was spoken through ^[b]the prophet would be fulfilled:

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on ^[c]the cloaks. ⁸ Most of the crowd ^(E)spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. ⁹ Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is ^(I)Jesus the prophet, from ^(J)Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

^12 (K)And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the ^(L)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(M)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘^(N)My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(O)den of robbers.”

¹⁴ And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and ^(P)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “^[f]Hosanna to the ^(Q)Son of David,” they became indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘^(R)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to ^(S)Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Barren Fig Tree

^18 (T)Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a lone ^(U)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and ^[g]asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(V)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(W)whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

Authority Challenged

^23 (X)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(Y)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[h]question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ^[i]people; for they all regard John as ^(Z)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two ^[j]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘^[k]Son, go work today in the ^(AA)vineyard.’ ²⁹ But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^(AB)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[l]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(AC)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even ^[m]have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

³³ “Listen to another parable. ^(AD)There was a ^[n]landowner who ^(AE)planted a ^(AF)vineyard and put a ^[o]fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to ^[p]vine-growers and ^(AG)went on a journey. ³⁴ And when the ^[q]harvest time approached, he ^(AH)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. ³⁵ And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again, he ^(AI)sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ ³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the ^[r]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and ^(AJ)lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a ^[t]people producing its fruit. ⁴⁴ And ^(AL)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And although they sought to arrest Him, they ^(AM)feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a ^(AN)prophet.