2 Samuel 21-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
David Avenges the Gibeonites
21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, and David inquired of the Lord. The Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)(A) 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”(B) 4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” He said, “What do you say that I should do for you?”(C) 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,(D) 6 let seven of his sons be handed over to us, and we will impale them before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord.”[a] The king said, “I will hand them over.”
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul.(E) 8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab[b] daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite;(F) 9 he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they impaled them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it on a rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens; she did not allow the birds of the air to come on the bodies[c] by day or the wild animals by night.(G) 11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.(H) 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been impaled. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish; they did all that the king commanded. After that, God heeded supplications for the land.(I)
Exploits of David’s Men
15 The Philistines went to war again with Israel, and David went down together with his servants. They fought against the Philistines, and David grew weary. 16 Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze and who was fitted out with new weapons,[d] said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out with us to battle any longer, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.”(J)
18 After this a battle took place with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants.(K) 19 Then there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.(L) 20 There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great size who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he, too, was descended from the giants.[e] 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of David’s brother Shimei killed him. 22 These four were descended from the giants[f] in Gath; they fell by the hands of David and his servants.
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
22 David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(M) 2 He said,
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,(N)
3 my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.(O)
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.(P)
5 For the waves of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;(Q)
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(R)
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.(S)
8 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and reeled because he was angry.(T)
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.(U)
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.(V)
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen upon the wings of the wind.(W)
12 He made darkness around him a canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.(X)
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High uttered his voice.(Y)
15 He sent out arrows and scattered them,
lightning and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.(Z)
17 He reached from on high; he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.(AA)
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my stay.(AB)
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me because he delighted in me.(AC)
21 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.(AD)
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.(AE)
23 For all his ordinances were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.(AF)
24 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.(AG)
25 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.(AH)
26 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless[g] you show yourself blameless;(AI)
27 with the pure you show yourself pure,
and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.(AJ)
28 You deliver a humble people,
but your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.(AK)
29 Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord;
the Lord lightens my darkness.(AL)
30 By you I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(AM)
32 For who is God but the Lord?
And who is a rock except our God?(AN)
33 The God who has girded me with strength[h]
has opened wide my path.[i](AO)
34 He made my feet like the feet of deer
and set me secure on the heights.(AP)
35 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AQ)
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your help[j] has made me great.
37 You have made me stride freely,
and my feet do not slip;(AR)
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I struck them down so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.(AS)
40 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.(AT)
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.(AU)
42 They looked, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.(AV)
43 I beat them fine like the dust of the earth;
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.(AW)
44 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[k]
you kept me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.(AX)
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.(AY)
46 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out[l] of their strongholds.(AZ)
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,(BA)
48 the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,(BB)
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from the violent.(BC)
50 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations
and sing praises to your name.(BD)
51 He is a tower of salvation for his king
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”(BE)
The Last Words of David
23 Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,[m]
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:(BF)
2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
his word is upon my tongue.(BG)
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,(BH)
4 is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”(BI)
5 Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?(BJ)
6 But the godless[n] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;(BK)
7 to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.[o]
David’s Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three;[p] he wielded his spear[q] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9 Next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. The Israelites withdrew,(BL) 10 but he stood his ground. He struck down the Philistines until his arm grew weary, though his hand clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the people came back to him—but only to strip the dead.(BM)
11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the army fled from the Philistines.(BN) 12 But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Toward the beginning of harvest three of the thirty chiefs went down to join David at the cave of Adullam while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.(BO) 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.(BP) 15 David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, 17 for he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.(BQ)
18 Now Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.[r] With his spear he fought against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the Three.(BR) 19 He was the most renowned of the Thirty[s] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the Three.
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant warrior[t] from Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of Ariel[u] of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.(BS) 21 And he killed an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and won a name beside the three warriors. 23 He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.(BT)
24 Among the Thirty were Asahel brother of Joab; Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem;(BU) 25 Shammah of Harod; Elika of Harod;(BV) 26 Helez the Paltite; Ira son of Ikkesh of Tekoa; 27 Abiezer of Anathoth; Mebunnai the Hushathite; 28 Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai of Netophah; 29 Heleb son of Baanah of Netophah; Ittai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites; 30 Benaiah of Pirathon; Hiddai of the wadis of Gaash; 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite; Azmaveth of Bahurim;[v] 32 Eliahba of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen: Jonathan 33 son of[w] Shammah the Hararite; Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite; 34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai of Maacah; Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite; 35 Hezro[x] of Carmel; Paarai the Arbite; 36 Igal son of Nathan of Zobah; Bani the Gadite; 37 Zelek the Ammonite; Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah; 38 Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite;(BW) 39 Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.(BX)
Footnotes
- 21.6 Cn Compare: Heb at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord
- 21.8 Heb mss Syr Compare Gk: MT Michal
- 21.10 Heb them
- 21.16 Heb was belted anew
- 21.20 Gk: Heb from the Raphah
- 21.22 Gk: Heb from the Raphah
- 22.26 Heb mss Gk: MT blameless warrior
- 22.33 Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT God is my strong refuge
- 22.33 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 22.36 Q ms: MT your answering
- 22.44 Heb mss Q ms Gk: MT my people
- 22.46 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 23.1 Q ms: MT who was raised on high
- 23.6 Heb worthless
- 23.7 Heb in sitting
- 23.8 Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 23.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 23.18 Heb mss Syr: MT Three
- 23.19 Heb ms Syr: Heb Was he the most renowned of the Three?
- 23.20 Another reading is the son of Ish-hai
- 23.20 Gk: Heb lacks sons of
- 23.31 Cn: Heb the Barhumite
- 23.33 Gk: Heb lacks son of
- 23.35 Another reading is Hezrai
Psalm 18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 18
Royal Thanksgiving for Victory
To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.(A)
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.(B)
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;(C)
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(D)
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.(E)
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and reeled because he was angry.(F)
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.(G)
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.(H)
11 He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.(I)
12 Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.(J)
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.[a](K)
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.(L)
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.(M)
16 He reached down from on high; he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.(N)
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.(O)
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me because he delighted in me.(P)
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.(Q)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.(R)
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.(S)
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.(T)
25 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless;(U)
26 with the pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.(V)
27 For you deliver a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.(W)
28 It is you who light my lamp;
the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.(X)
29 By you I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.(Y)
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(Z)
31 For who is God except the Lord?
And who is a rock besides our God?(AA)
32 The God who has girded me with strength
and made my way safe.[b]
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.(AB)
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AC)
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand has supported me;
your help[c] has made me great.
36 You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them
and did not turn back until they were consumed.(AD)
38 I struck them down so that they were unable to rise;
they fell under my feet.(AE)
39 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.(AF)
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.(AG)
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.(AH)
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.(AI)
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[d]
you made me head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.(AJ)
44 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their strongholds.(AK)
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation,(AL)
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,(AM)
48 who delivered me from my enemies;
indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from the violent.(AN)
Romans 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much, in every way. For in the first place, the Jews[a] were entrusted with the oracles of God.(A) 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?(B) 4 By no means! Although every human is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
5 But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)(D) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their judgment is deserved!(E)
None Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we any better off?[c] No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin,(F) 10 as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous, not even one;(G)
11 there is no one who has understanding;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness;
there is not even one.”
13 “Their throats are opened graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”(H)
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;(I)
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.(J) 20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.(K)
Righteousness through Faith
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets,(L) 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ[d] for all who believe.[e] For there is no distinction,(M) 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;(N) 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,(O) 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement[f] by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;(P) 26 it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.[g]
27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith.(Q) 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.(R) 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of gentiles also? Yes, of gentiles also, 30 since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.(S) 31 Do we then overthrow the law through this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.