²⁹ Then the Spirit^(A) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah^(B) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.^{(C) 30} And Jephthah made a vow^(D) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph^(E) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.^(F)”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,^(G) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing^(H) to the sound of timbrels!^(I) She was an only child.^(J) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes^(K) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.^(L)”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,^(M) now that the Lord has avenged you^(N) of your enemies,^(O) the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,^(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab^(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.^(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.^(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof^(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw^(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,^(G) the daughter of Eliam^(H) and the wife of Uriah^(I) the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her.^(J) She came to him, and he slept^(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)^(L) Then she went back home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah^(M) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”^(N) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark^(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,^[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love^(P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

¹² Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter^(Q) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down^(R) and die.^(S)”

¹⁶ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

¹⁸ Joab sent David a full account of the battle. ¹⁹ He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, ²⁰ the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Abimelek^(T) son of Jerub-Besheth^[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,^(U) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

²² The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

²⁵ David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ After the time of mourning^(V) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased^(W) the Lord.

Ananias and Sapphira

5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself,^(A) but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.^(B)

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan^(C) has so filled your heart^(D) that you have lied to the Holy Spirit^(E) and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?^{(F) 4} Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?^(G) What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”^(H)

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.^(I) And great fear^(J) seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body,^(K) and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”^(L)

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?^(M) Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.^(N) Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.^{(O) 11} Great fear^(P) seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.