14 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

² And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

³ And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

⁴ And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

⁵ And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

⁶ And they could not answer him again to these things.

⁷ And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

⁸ When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

⁹ And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

¹⁰ But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

¹¹ For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

¹² Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

¹³ But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

¹⁴ And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

¹⁵ And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

¹⁶ Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

¹⁷ And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

¹⁸ And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

¹⁹ And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

²⁰ And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

²¹ So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

²² And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

²³ And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

²⁴ For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

72 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.

² He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

⁴ He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

⁵ They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

⁶ He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

⁷ In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

⁹ They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

¹² For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

¹³ He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴ He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

¹⁵ And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.

¹⁶ There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

¹⁷ His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

²⁰ The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

17 Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains.

² Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

³ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴ Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:

⁵ For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

⁶ Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?

⁷ Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:

⁸ And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.

⁹ Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,

¹⁰ And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

¹² He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.

¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:

¹⁴ But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

¹⁵ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶ And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God.

¹⁸ What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.

¹⁹ O Lord, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

²⁰ O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²¹ And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

²² For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God.

²³ Therefore now, Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

²⁴ Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

²⁵ For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee.

²⁶ And now, Lord, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

²⁷ Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O Lord, and it shall be blessed for ever.

18 Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

³ And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.

⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.

⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.

⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syriadamascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸ Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.

⁹ Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;

¹⁰ He sent Hadoram his son to king David, to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.

¹¹ Them also king David dedicated unto the Lord, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.

¹³ And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

¹⁵ And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder.

¹⁶ And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;

¹⁷ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.

19 Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

² And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

⁴ Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.

⁷ So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

⁹ And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

¹¹ And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

¹² And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

¹³ Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.

¹⁴ So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.

¹⁵ And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

¹⁷ And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

¹⁸ But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.