¹⁹ I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you ^(A)swallow up ^(B)the heritage of the Lord?”

¹⁹ Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^(A)for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in ^(B)the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

³ And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^(A)the heritage of the Lord?”

^2 (A)for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and ^(B)dignified in every way.

¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at ^(A)the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be ^(B)swallowed up.’”

⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal ^(A)may be swallowed up by life.

⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^(A)will receive his approval, ⁴ for ^(B)he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^(C)an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

⁴⁵ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^(A)your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^(B)Your mother was a Hittite and ^(C)your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ And ^(D)your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^(E)your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ^47 (F)Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^(G)you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. ^48 (H)As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^(I)Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^(J)excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.