The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

David Defeats His Enemies

18 ^(A)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated ^(B)Hadadezer king of ^(C)Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument^[a] at the river Euphrates. ⁴ And David took from him 1,000 chariots, ^(D)7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(E)of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons^[b] in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David^[c] wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^(F)Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. ^(G)With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹ When ^(H)Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king ^(I)of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son ^(J)Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against ^(K)Hadadezer and defeated him; for ^(L)Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. ¹¹ These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from ^(M)Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² And ^(N)Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ And ^(O)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^16 (P)and Zadok the son of Ahitub and ^(Q)Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and ^(R)Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the ^(S)chief officials in the service of the king.

The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men

19 ^(T)Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; ⁵ and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents^[d] of silver to hire chariots and horsemen ^(U)from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from ^(V)Zobah. ⁷ They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before ^(W)Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. ⁸ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. ⁹ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.

Ammonites and Syrians Defeated

¹⁰ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹¹ The rest of his men he put in the charge of ^(X)Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. ¹² And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before ^(Y)Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates,^[e] with ^(Z)Shophach the commander of the army of ^(AA)Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of ^(AB)7,000 chariots and 40,000 ^(AC)foot soldiers, and put to death also ^(AD)Shophach the commander of their army. ¹⁹ And when the servants of ^(AE)Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And ^(A)about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And ^(B)when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^(C)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^(D)the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ^(E)‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take ^(F)what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15 (G)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^(H)do you begrudge my generosity?’^{[b] 16} So ^(I)the last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17 (J)And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ “See, ^(K)we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^(L)condemn him to death ¹⁹ and ^(M)deliver him over to the Gentiles ^(N)to be mocked and flogged and ^(O)crucified, and he will be raised on ^(P)the third day.”

A Mother's Request

^20 (Q)Then ^(R)the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^(S)kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹ And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^(T)are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^(U)in your kingdom.” ²² Jesus answered, ^(V)“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(W)to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³ He said to them, ^(X)“You will drink ^(Y)my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^(Z)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(AA)prepared by my Father.” ²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, ^(AB)“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ^(AC)lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26 (AD)It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{[c] 27} and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{[d] 28} even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^(AE)to serve, and ^(AF)to give his life as a ransom for ^(AG)many.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^29 (AH)And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,^[e] have mercy on us, ^(AI)Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd ^(AJ)rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³² And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.