The Preaching of John the Baptist

(Matthew 3.1-12; Luke 3.1-18; John 1.19-28)

1 This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^{[a] 2 (A)} It began just as God had said in the book written by Isaiah the prophet,

⁴ So John the Baptist showed up in the desert and told everyone, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.”

⁵ From all Judea and Jerusalem crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.

^6 (C) John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

⁷ John also told the people, “Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals.^{[b] 8} I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

The Baptism of Jesus

(Matthew 3.13-17; Luke 3.21,22)

⁹ About that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. ¹⁰ As soon as Jesus came out of the water, he saw the sky open and the Holy Spirit coming down to him like a dove. ^11 (D) A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”

Jesus and Satan

(Matthew 4.1-11; Luke 4.1-13)

¹² At once God's Spirit made Jesus go into the desert. ¹³ He stayed there for 40 days while Satan tested him. Jesus was with the wild animals, but angels took care of him.

Jesus Begins His Work

(Matthew 4.12-17; Luke 4.14,15)

¹⁴ After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God.^{[c] 15 (E)} He said, “The time has come! God's kingdom will soon be here.^[d] Turn back to God and believe the good news!”

Jesus Chooses Four Fishermen

(Matthew 4.18-22; Luke 5.1-11)

¹⁶ As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake. ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Follow me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” ¹⁸ Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

¹⁹ Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. ²⁰ At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.

David Becomes King of Judah

2 Later, David asked the Lord, “Should I go back to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered, “Yes.”

David asked, “Which town should I go to?”

“Go to Hebron,” the Lord replied.

^2 (A) David went to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. Ahinoam was from Jezreel, and Abigail was the widow of Nabal from Carmel. ³ David also told his men and their families to come and live in the villages near Hebron.

^4 (B) The people of Judah met with David at Hebron and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king. Then they told David, “The people from Jabesh in Gilead buried Saul.”

⁵ David sent messengers to tell them:

The Lord bless you! You were kind enough to bury Saul your ruler, ⁶ and I pray that the Lord will be kind and faithful to you. I will be your friend because of what you have done. ⁷ Saul is dead, but the tribe of Judah has made me their king. So be strong and have courage.

Ishbosheth Becomes King of Israel

⁸ Abner the son of Ner^[a] had been the general of Saul's army. He took Saul's son Ishbosheth^[b] across the Jordan River to Mahanaim ⁹ and made him king of Israel,^[c] including the areas of Gilead, Asher,^[d] Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin. ¹⁰ Ishbosheth was 40 years old at the time, and he ruled for two years. But the tribe of Judah made David their king, ¹¹ and he ruled from Hebron for seven and a half years.

The War between David and Ishbosheth

¹² One day, Abner and the soldiers of Ishbosheth^[e] left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. ¹³ Meanwhile, Joab the son of Zeruiah^[f] was leading David's soldiers, and the two groups met at the pool in Gibeon.^[g] Abner and his men sat down on one side of the pool, while Joab and his men sat on the other side. ¹⁴ Abner yelled to Joab, “Let's get some of our best soldiers to stand up and fight each other!”

Joab agreed, ¹⁵ and twelve of Ishbosheth's men from the tribe of Benjamin got up to fight twelve of David's men. ¹⁶ They grabbed each other by the hair and stabbed each other in the side with their daggers. They all died right there! That's why the place in Gibeon is called “Field of Daggers.”^{[h] 17} Then everyone started fighting. Both sides fought very hard, but David's soldiers defeated Abner and the soldiers of Israel.

¹⁸ Zeruiah's three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a deer in an open field, ¹⁹ and he ran straight after Abner, without looking to the right or to the left.

²⁰ When Abner turned and saw him, he said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

Asahel answered, “Yes it is.”

²¹ Abner said, “There are soldiers all around. Stop chasing me and fight one of them! Kill him and take his clothes and weapons for yourself.”

But Asahel refused to stop.

²² Abner said, “If you don't turn back, I'll have to kill you! Then I could never face your brother Joab again.”

²³ But Asahel would not turn back, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the back end of his spear. The spear went all the way through and came out of his back. Asahel fell down and died. Everyone who saw Asahel lying dead just stopped and stood still. ²⁴ But Joab and Abishai went after Abner. Finally, about sunset, they came to the hill of Ammah, not far from Giah on the road to Gibeon Desert. ²⁵ Abner brought the men of Benjamin together in one group on top of a hill, and they got ready to fight.

²⁶ Abner shouted to Joab, “Aren't we ever going to stop killing each other? Don't you know that the longer we keep on doing this, the worse it's going to be when it's all over? When are you going to order your men to stop chasing their own relatives?”

²⁷ Joab shouted back, “I swear by the living God, if you hadn't spoken, my men would have chased their relatives all night!” ²⁸ Joab took his trumpet and blew the signal for his soldiers to stop chasing the soldiers of Israel. At once, the fighting stopped.

²⁹ Abner and his troops marched through the Jordan River valley all that night. Then they crossed the river and marched all morning^[i] until they arrived back at Mahanaim.

³⁰ As soon as Joab stopped chasing Abner, he got David's troops together and counted them. There were 19 missing besides Asahel. ³¹ But David's soldiers had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin. ³² Joab and his troops carried Asahel's body to Bethlehem and buried him in the family burial place. Then they marched all night and reached Hebron before sunrise.

3 This battle was the beginning of a long war between the followers of Saul and the followers of David. Saul's power grew weaker, but David's grew stronger.

Daniel and His Friends

1 ^(A) In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah,^[a] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem. ^2 (B) The Lord let Nebuchadnezzar capture Jehoiakim and take away some of the things used in God's temple. And when the king returned to Babylonia,^[b] he put these things in the temple of his own god.

³ One day the king ordered Ashpenaz, his highest palace official, to choose some young men from the royal family of Judah and from other leading Jewish families. ⁴ The king said, “They must be healthy, handsome, smart, wise, educated, and fit to serve in the royal palace. Teach them how to speak and write our language ⁵ and give them the same food and wine that I am served. Train them for three years, and then they can become court officials.”

⁶ Four of the young Jews chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all from the tribe of Judah. ⁷ But the king's chief official gave them Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.

⁸ Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace. ⁹ God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel. ¹⁰ But the man still told him, “The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men.”

¹¹ The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard, ¹² “For the next ten days, let us have only vegetables and water at mealtime. ¹³ When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us.” ¹⁴ The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked.

¹⁵ Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace. ¹⁶ After this, the guard let them eat vegetables instead of the rich food and wine.

¹⁷ God made the four young men smart and wise. They read a lot of books and became well educated. Daniel could also tell the meaning of dreams and visions.

¹⁸ At the end of the three-year period set by King Nebuchadnezzar, his chief palace official brought all the young men to him. ¹⁹ The king interviewed them and discovered that none of the others were as outstanding as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were given positions in the royal court. ²⁰ From then on, whenever the king asked for advice, he found their wisdom was ten times better than that of any of his other advisors and magicians. ²¹ Daniel served there until the first year of King Cyrus.^[c]