The Daily Audio Bible

The Philistines Send David Back

29 The Philistines had brought their whole army to Aphek,^[a] while Israel's army was camping near Jezreel Spring. ^2-3 The Philistine rulers and their troops were marching past the Philistine army commanders in groups of 100 and 1,000. When David and his men marched by at the end with Achish, the commanders said, “What are these worthless Israelites doing here?”

“They are David's men,” Achish answered. “David used to be one of Saul's officers, but he left Saul and joined my army a long time ago. I've never had even one complaint about him.”

⁴ The Philistine army commanders were angry and shouted:

Send David back to the town you gave him. We won't have him going into the battle with us. He could turn and fight against us! Saul would take David back as an officer if David brought him the heads of our soldiers. ^5 (A) The Israelites even dance and sing,

⁶ Achish called David over and said:

I swear by the living Lord that you've been honest with me, and I want you to fight by my side. I don't think you've done anything wrong from the day you joined me until this very moment. But the other Philistine rulers don't want you to come along. ⁷ Go on back home and try not to upset them.

⁸ “But what have I done?” David asked. “Do you know of anything I've ever done that would keep me from fighting the enemies of my king?”^[b]

⁹ Achish said:

I believe that you're as good as an angel of God, but our army commanders have decided that you can't fight in this battle. ¹⁰ You and your troops will have to go back to the town I gave you.^[c] Get up and leave tomorrow morning as soon as it's light. I'm pleased with you, so don't let any of this bother you.^[d]

¹¹ David and his men got up early in the morning and headed back toward Philistia, while the Philistines left for Jezreel.

David Rescues His Soldiers' Families

30 It took David and his men three days to reach Ziklag. But while they had been away, the Amalekites had been raiding in the desert around there. They had attacked Ziklag, burned it to the ground, ² and had taken away the women and children. ³ When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw the burned-out ruins and learned that their families had been taken captive. ⁴ They started crying and kept it up until they were too weak to cry any more. ^5 (B) David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken captive with everyone else.

⁶ David was desperate. His soldiers were so upset over what had happened to their sons and daughters that they were thinking about stoning David to death. But he felt the Lord God giving him strength, ^7 (C) and he said to the priest, “Abiathar, let's ask God what to do.”

Abiathar brought everything he needed to get answers from God, and he went over to David. ⁸ Then David asked the Lord, “Should I go after the people who raided our town? Can I catch up with them?”

“Go after them,” the Lord answered. “You will catch up with them, and you will rescue your families.”

^9-10 David led his 600 men to Besor Gorge, but 200 of them were too tired to go across. So they stayed behind, while David and the other 400 men crossed the gorge.

¹¹ Some of David's men found an Egyptian out in a field and took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some bread, and he ate it. Then they gave him a drink of water, ¹² some dried figs, and two handfuls of raisins. This was the first time in three days he had tasted food or water. Now he felt much better.

¹³ “Who is your master?” David asked. “And where do you come from?”

“I'm from Egypt,” the young man answered. “I'm the servant of an Amalekite, but he left me here three days ago because I was sick. ¹⁴ We had attacked some towns in the desert where the Cherethites live, in the area that belongs to Judah, and in the desert where the Caleb clan lives. And we burned down Ziklag.”

¹⁵ “Will you take me to those Amalekites?” David asked.

“Yes, I will, if you promise with God as a witness that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master.”

¹⁶ He led David to the Amalekites. They were eating and drinking everywhere, celebrating because of what they had taken from Philistia and Judah. ¹⁷ David attacked just before sunrise the next day and fought until sunset.^[e] Four hundred Amalekites rode away on camels, but they were the only ones who escaped.

¹⁸ David rescued his two wives and everyone else the Amalekites had taken from Ziklag. ¹⁹ No one was missing—young or old, sons or daughters. David brought back everything that had been stolen, ²⁰ including their livestock.

David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them, but he kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward.

²¹ On the way back, David went to the 200 men he had left at Besor Gorge, because they had been too tired to keep up with him. They came toward David and the people who were with him. When David was close enough, he greeted the 200 men and asked how they were doing.

²² Some of David's men were good-for-nothings, and they said, “Those men didn't go with us to the battle, so they don't get any of the things we took back from the Amalekites. Let them take their wives and children and go!”

²³ But David said:

My friends, don't be so greedy with what the Lord has given us! The Lord protected us and gave us victory over the people who attacked. ²⁴ Who would pay attention to you, anyway? Soldiers who stay behind to guard the camp get as much as those who go into battle.

²⁵ David made this a law for Israel, and it has been the same ever since.

²⁶ David went back to Ziklag with everything they had taken from the Amalekites. He sent some of these things as gifts to his friends who were leaders of Judah, and he told them, “We took these things from the Lord's enemies. Please accept them as a gift.”

^27-31 This is a list of the towns where David sent gifts: Bethel,^[f] Ramoth in the Southern Desert, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, the towns belonging to the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach, and Hebron. He also sent gifts to the other towns where he and his men had traveled.

Saul and His Sons Die

31 Meanwhile, the Philistines were fighting Israel at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. ² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

⁴ Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, “Kill me with your sword! I don't want these worthless Philistines to torture and make fun of me.” But the soldier was afraid to kill him.

Saul then took out his own sword; he stuck the blade into his stomach, and fell on it. ⁵ When the soldier knew that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

⁶ Saul was dead, his three sons were dead, and the soldier who carried his weapons was dead. They and all his soldiers died on that same day. ⁷ The Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley^[g] and the other side of the Jordan learned that Saul and his sons were dead. They saw that the Israelite army had run away. So they ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites had left behind.

⁸ The day after the battle, when the Philistines returned to the battlefield to take the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers, they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. ^9-10 The Philistines cut off Saul's head and pulled off his armor. Then they put his armor in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the city wall of Beth-Shan. They also sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

¹¹ The people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul's body. ¹² So one night, some brave men from Jabesh went to Beth-Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons, then brought them back to Jabesh and burned them. ¹³ They buried the bones under a small tree in Jabesh, and for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

⁵⁵ It was almost time for Passover. Many of the Jewish people who lived out in the country had come to Jerusalem to get themselves ready^[a] for the festival. ⁵⁶ They looked around for Jesus. Then when they were in the temple, they asked each other, “You don't think he will come here for Passover, do you?”

⁵⁷ The chief priests and the Pharisees told the people to let them know if any of them saw Jesus. This is how they hoped to arrest him.

At Bethany

(Matthew 26.6-13; Mark 14.3-9)

12 Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death. ² A meal had been prepared for Jesus. Martha was doing the serving, and Lazarus himself was there.

^3 (A) Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume^[b] and poured it on Jesus' feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.

⁴ A disciple named Judas Iscariot^[c] was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked, ⁵ “Why wasn't this perfume sold for 300 silver coins and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it.

⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial. ^8 (B) You will always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me.”

A Plot To Kill Lazarus

⁹ A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus, because Jesus had raised him from death. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus. ¹¹ He was the reason that many of the people were turning from them and putting their faith in Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

(Matthew 21.1-11; Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-40)

¹² The next day a large crowd was in Jerusalem for Passover. When they heard that Jesus was coming for the festival, ^13 (C) they took palm branches and went out to greet him.^[d] They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the Scriptures say,

¹⁶ At first, Jesus' disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory,^[f] they remembered all this. Everything had happened exactly as the Scriptures said it would.

^17-18 A crowd had come to meet Jesus because they had seen him call Lazarus out of the tomb. They kept talking about him and this miracle.^{[g] 19} But the Pharisees said to each other, “There is nothing we can do! Everyone in the world is following Jesus.”

The Lord Is Always Merciful