David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^(A)show him ^[a]kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(B)Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

³ Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show ^(C)the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is ^(D)lame in his feet.”

⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of ^(E)Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

⁶ Now when ^(F)Mephibosheth^[b] the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

⁷ So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

⁸ Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such ^(G)a dead dog as I?”

⁹ And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ^(H)“I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰ You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son ^(I)shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had ^(J)fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at ^[c]my table like one of the king’s sons.” ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son ^(K)whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, ^(L)for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he ^(M)was lame in both his feet.

Saul Resents David

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, ^(A)the ^[a]soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, ^(B)and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, ^(C)and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a ^(D)covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[b]behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[c]Philistine, that ^(E)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(F)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(H)displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but ^(I)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[d]eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that ^(J)the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, ^(K)and he prophesied inside the house. So David ^(L)played music with his hand, as at other times; ^(M)but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(N)cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹² Now Saul was ^(O)afraid of David, because ^(P)the Lord was with him, but had ^(Q)departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[e]his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and ^(R)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and ^(S)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(T)all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So ^(A)the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(A)all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵ And behold, a certain ^[a]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ^(B)“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

²⁷ So he answered and said, ^(C)“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ^(D)‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and ^(E)you will live.”

²⁹ But he, wanting to ^(F)justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among ^[b]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, ^(G)he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain ^(H)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had ^(I)compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, ^[c]when he departed, he took out two ^(J)denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ ³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, ^(K)“Go and do likewise.”