Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

David and Jonathan's Friendship

18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan ^(A)loved him as his own soul. ² And Saul took him that day ^(B)and would not let him return to his father's house. ³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because ^(C)he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ And David went out ^(D)and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

Saul's Jealousy of David

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, ^(E)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.^{[a] 7} And the women ^(F)sang to one another as they celebrated,

⁸ And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but ^(H)the kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day ^(I)a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(J)he raved within his house while David was ^(K)playing the lyre, as he did day by day. ^(L)Saul had his spear in his hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(M)hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

^12 (N)Saul was afraid of David because ^(O)the Lord was with him ^(P)but had departed from Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. ^(Q)And he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David ^(R)had success in all his undertakings, ^(S)for the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that ^(T)he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. ^16 (U)But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is ^(V)my elder daughter Merab. ^(W)I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me ^(X)and fight the Lord's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, ^(Y)but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ And David said to Saul, ^(Z)“Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to ^(AA)Adriel the ^(AB)Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰ Now ^(AC)Saul's daughter Michal ^(AD)loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^(AE)be a snare for him ^(AF)and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,^{[b] (AG)}“You shall now be my son-in-law.” ²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” ²³ And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, ^(AH)“Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” ²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no ^(AI)bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AJ)that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” ^(AK)Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. ^(AL)Before the time had expired, ²⁷ David arose and went, ^(AM)along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. ^(AN)And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. ²⁸ But when Saul saw and knew that ^(AO)the Lord was with David, ^(AP)and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, ²⁹ Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually.

^30 (AQ)Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out ^(AR)David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^(A)the Water Gate. And they told ^(B)Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest ^(C)brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^(D)on the first day of the seventh month. ^3 (E)And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ^(F)“Amen, Amen,” ^(G)lifting up their hands. ^(H)And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ^7 (I)Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^{[a] (J)}helped the people to understand the Law, ^(K)while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,^[b] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was ^(L)the governor, and Ezra ^(M)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^(N)“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(O)do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ^(P)send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹ So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because ^(Q)they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

¹³ On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. ¹⁴ And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses ^(R)that the people of Israel should dwell in booths^[c] during the feast of the seventh month, ¹⁵ and that they should proclaim it and ^(S)publish it in all their towns and ^(T)in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ^(U)branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(V)on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^(W)the Water Gate and in the square at ^(X)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day ^(Y)the people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^(Z)very great rejoicing. ¹⁸ And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^(AA)he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^(AB)on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a ^(A)feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by ^(B)the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic^[a] called Bethesda,^[b] which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and ^(C)paralyzed.^{[c] 5} One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ^9 (E)And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^(F)Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews^[d] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^(G)it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for ^(H)Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! ^(I)Sin no more, ^(J)that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews ^(K)were persecuting Jesus, ^(L)because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

¹⁸ This was why the Jews ^(M)were seeking all the more to kill him, ^(N)because not only was he ^(O)breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God ^(P)his own Father, ^(Q)making himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(R)the Son ^(S)can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For ^(T)the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And ^(U)greater works than these will he show him, so that ^(V)you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father ^(W)raises the dead and ^(X)gives them life, so ^(Y)also the Son gives life ^(Z)to whom he will. ^22 (AA)For the Father judges no one, but ^(AB)has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they ^(AC)honor the Father. ^(AD)Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whoever hears my word and ^(AF)believes him who sent me has eternal life. He ^(AG)does not come into judgment, but ^(AH)has passed from death to life.