²⁶ And as they led Him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷ And there accompanied [Jesus] a great multitude of the people, [including] women who bewailed and lamented Him.

²⁸ But Jesus, turning toward them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

²⁹ For behold, the days are coming during which they will say, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[a]to be envied) are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have never nursed [babies]!

³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills, Cover (conceal, hide) us!

³¹ For if they do these things when the timber is green, what will happen when it is dry?

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be executed with Him.^(A)

³³ And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

9 And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?

² And of the house of Saul there was a servant whose name was Ziba. When they had called him to David, he said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, I, your servant, am he.

³ The king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the [unfailing, unsought, unlimited] mercy and kindness of God? Ziba replied, Jonathan has yet a son who is lame in his feet.^(A)

⁴ And the king said, Where is he? Ziba replied, He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel at Lo-debar.

⁶ And Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth! And he answered, Behold your servant!

⁷ David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father [grandfather], and you shall eat at my table always.

⁸ And [the cripple] bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?

⁹ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, I have given your master’s son [grandson] all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.

¹⁰ And you shall till the land for him, you, your sons, and your servants, and you shall bring in the produce, that your master’s heir may have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, your master’s son [grandson], shall eat always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant will do according to all my lord the king commands. So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table as one of the king’s sons.

¹² Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in Ziba’s house were servants to Mephibosheth.

¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table, [even though] he was lame in both feet.

10 Later, the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.

² David said, I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did to me. So David sent his servants to console him for his father’s death; and they came into the land of the Ammonites,

³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that it is because David honors your father that he has sent comforters to you? Has he not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?

⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments in the middle at their hips and sent them away.

⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards are grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the Ammonites saw that they had made themselves obnoxious and disgusting to David, they sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob and of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and of the king of Maacah 1,000 men, and of Tob 12,000 men.

⁷ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men.

⁸ And the Ammonites came out and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate, but the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the open country.

⁹ When Joab saw that the battlefront was against him before and behind, he picked some of all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians.

¹⁰ The rest of the men Joab gave over to Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the Ammonites.

¹¹ Joab said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you.

¹² Be of good courage; let us play the man for our people and the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what seems good to Him.

¹³ And Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.

¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians had fled, they also fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab returned from battling against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Syrians saw that they were defeated by Israel, they gathered together.

¹⁶ Hadadezer sent and brought the Syrians who were beyond the river [Euphrates]; and they came to Helam, with Shobach commander of the army of Hadadezer leading them.

¹⁷ When David was told, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. Then the Syrians set themselves in array against David and fought with him.

¹⁸ The Syrians fled before Israel, and David slew of [them] the men of 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen and smote Shobach captain of their army, who died there.

¹⁹ And when all the kings serving Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.