Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

David's Census

24 ^(A)(B)Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ^(C)“Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,^[a] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, ^(E)“May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and began from ^(F)Aroer,^[b] and from the city that is in the middle of the ^(G)valley, toward Gad and on to ^(H)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;^[c] and they came to Dan, and from Dan^[d] they went around to ^(I)Sidon, ⁷ and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(J)Hivites and ^(K)Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men ^(L)who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin

¹⁰ But ^(M)David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ^(N)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done ^(O)very foolishly.” ¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(P)the prophet Gad, David's ^(Q)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[e] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(R)three^[f] years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(S)for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

^15 (T)So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from ^(U)Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. ¹⁶ And when ^(V)the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem ^(W)to destroy it, ^(X)the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel ^(Y)who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And ^(Z)the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^(AA)Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of ^(AB)Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. ²¹ And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague ^(AC)may be averted from the people.” ²² Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the ^(AD)threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God ^(AE)accept you.” ²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels^[g] of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ^(AF)So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

The Rich Ruler

^18 (A)And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ^(B)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ^(C)‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, ^(D)“All these I have kept from my youth.” ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. ^(E)Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ^(F)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^23 (G)But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴ Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, ^(H)“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter ^(I)the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(J)the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ But he said, ^(K)“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” ²⁸ And Peter said, “See, ^(L)we have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(M)there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers^[a] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive ^(N)many times more ^(O)in this time, and in ^(P)the age to come eternal life.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^31 (Q)And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, ^(R)we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(S)everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³² For he will be ^(T)delivered over to the Gentiles and will be ^(U)mocked and shamefully treated and ^(V)spit upon. ³³ And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on ^(W)the third day he will rise.” ^34 (X)But they understood none of these things. ^(Y)This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

^35 (Z)As he drew near to Jericho, ^(AA)a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, ^(AB)“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, “Jesus, ^(AC)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front ^(AD)rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ^41 (AE)“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; ^(AF)your faith has ^(AG)made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, ^(AH)glorifying God. And ^(AI)all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.