2 Samuel 12:1-4

New International Version

Nathan Rebukes David^(A)

12 The Lord sent Nathan^(B) to David.^(C) When he came to him,^(D) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

Read full chapter

1 Kings 20:35-42

New International Version

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵By the word of the Lord one of the company of the prophets^(A) said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but he refused.^(B)

³⁶So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion^(C) will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. ³⁹As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,^(D) or you must pay a talent^[a] of silver.’ ⁴⁰While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.”

“That is your sentence,”^(E) the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”

⁴¹Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴²He said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You^(F) have set free a man I had determined should die.^[b]^(G) Therefore it is your life for his life,^(H) your people for his people.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

1 Kings 20:39 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
1 Kings 20:42 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

Isaiah 5:1-7

New International Version

The Song of the Vineyard

5 I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:^(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
²He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.^(B)
He built a watchtower^(C) in it
    and cut out a winepress^(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.^(E)

³“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.^(F)
⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?^(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?^(H)
⁵Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;^(I)
I will break down its wall,^(J)
    and it will be trampled.^(K)
⁶I will make it a wasteland,^(L)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns^(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain^(N) on it.”

⁷The vineyard^(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,^(P) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,^(Q) but heard cries of distress.^(R)