The Daily Audio Bible

¹¹ King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. David said, “Speak to the elders of Judah. Tell them I said, ‘News has reached me where I’m staying. People all over Israel are talking about bringing me back to my palace. Why should you be the last to do something about it? ¹² You are my relatives. You are my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring me back?’ ¹³ Say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my own flesh and blood? You will be the commander of my army for life in place of Joab. If that isn’t true, may God punish me greatly.’ ”

¹⁴ So the hearts of all the men of Judah were turned toward David. All of them had the same purpose in mind. They sent a message to the king. They said, “We want you to come back. We want all your men to come back too.” ¹⁵ Then the king returned. He went as far as the Jordan River.

The men of Judah had come to Gilgal to welcome the king back. They had come to bring him across the Jordan. ¹⁶ Shimei, the son of Gera, was among them. Shimei was from Bahurim in the territory of Benjamin. He hurried down to welcome King David back. ¹⁷ There were 1,000 people from Benjamin with him. Ziba, the manager of Saul’s house, was with him too. And so were Ziba’s 15 sons and 20 servants. All of them rushed down to the Jordan River. That’s where the king was. ¹⁸ They went across at the place where people usually cross it. Then they brought the king’s family back over with them. They were ready to do anything he wanted them to do.

Shimei, the son of Gera, had also gone across the Jordan. When he did, he fell down flat with his face toward the ground in front of the king. ¹⁹ He said to him, “You are my king and master. Please don’t hold me guilty. Please forgive me for the wrong things I did on the day you left Jerusalem. Please forget all about them. ²⁰ I know I’ve sinned. But today I’ve come down here to welcome you. I’m the first member of Joseph’s whole family to do it.”

²¹ Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for what he did? He cursed you. And you are the Lord’s anointed king.”

²² But David replied, “You and Joab are sons of Zeruiah. What does this have to do with you? What right do you have to interfere? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don’t I know that today I am king over Israel again?” ²³ So the king made a promise to Shimei. He said to him, “You aren’t going to be put to death.”

²⁴ Mephibosheth was Saul’s grandson. He had also gone down to welcome the king back. He had not taken care of his feet. He hadn’t trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes. He hadn’t done any of those things from the day the king left Jerusalem until the day he returned safely. ²⁵ He came from Jerusalem to welcome the king. The king asked him, “Mephibosheth, why didn’t you go with me?”

²⁶ He said, “You are my king and master. I’m not able to walk. So I thought, ‘I’ll have a saddle put on my donkey. I’ll ride on it. Then I can go with the king.’ But my servant Ziba turned against me. ²⁷ He has told you lies about me. King David, you are like an angel of God. So do what you wish. ²⁸ You should have put all the members of my grandfather’s family to death, including me. Instead, you always provided what I needed. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to you?”

²⁹ The king said to him, “You don’t have to say anything else. I order you and Ziba to divide up Saul’s land between you.”

³⁰ Mephibosheth said to the king, “I’m happy that you have returned home safely. So just let Ziba have everything.”

³¹ Barzillai had also come down to go across the Jordan River with the king. He wanted to send the king on his way from there. Barzillai was from Rogelim in the land of Gilead. ³² He was very old. He was 80 years old. He had given the king everything he needed while the king was staying in Mahanaim. That’s because Barzillai was very wealthy. ³³ The king said to Barzillai, “Come across the river with me. Stay with me in Jerusalem. I’ll take good care of you.”

³⁴ But Barzillai said to the king, “I won’t live for many more years. So why should I go up to Jerusalem with you? ³⁵ I’m already 80 years old. I can hardly tell the difference between what is enjoyable and what isn’t. I can hardly taste what I eat and drink. I can’t even hear the voices of male and female singers anymore. So why should I add my problems to yours? ³⁶ I’ll go across the Jordan River with you for a little way. Why should you reward me by taking care of me? ³⁷ Let me go back home. Then I can die in my own town. I can be buried there in the tomb of my father and mother. But let Kimham take my place. Let him go across the river with you. Do for him whatever you wish.”

³⁸ The king said, “Kimham will go across with me. I’ll do for him whatever you wish. And I’ll do for you anything you wish.”

³⁹ So all the people went across the Jordan River. Then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and said goodbye to him. And Barzillai went back home.

⁴⁰ After the king had gone across the river, he went to Gilgal. Kimham had gone across with him. All the troops of Judah and half of the troops of Israel had taken the king across.

⁴¹ Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king. They were saying to him, “Why did the men of Judah take you away from us? They are our relatives. What right did they have to bring you and your family across the Jordan River? What right did they have to bring all your men over with you?”

⁴² All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel. They said, “We did that because the king is our close relative. So why should you be angry about what happened? Have we eaten any of the king’s food? Have we taken anything for ourselves?”

⁴³ Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah. They said, “We have ten of the 12 tribes in the kingdom. So we have a stronger claim on David than you have. Why then are you acting as if you hate us? Weren’t we the first ones to talk about bringing back our king?”

But the men of Judah argued their side even more forcefully than the men of Israel.

Sheba Urges Israel Not to Follow David

20 An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,

² So all the men of Israel deserted David. They followed Sheba, the son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king. They remained with him from the Jordan River all the way to Jerusalem.

³ David returned to his palace in Jerusalem. He had left ten concubines there to take care of the palace. He put them in a house and kept them under guard. He gave them what they needed. But he didn’t sleep with them. They were kept under guard until the day they died. They lived as if they were widows.

⁴ The king said to Amasa, “Send for the men of Judah. Tell them to come to me within three days. And be here yourself.” ⁵ So Amasa went to get the men of Judah. But he took longer than the time the king had set for him.

⁶ David said to Abishai, “Sheba, the son of Bikri, will do more harm to us than Absalom ever did. Take my men and go after him. If you don’t, he’ll find cities that have high walls around them. He’ll go into one of them and escape from us.” ⁷ So Joab’s men marched out with the Kerethites and Pelethites. They went out with all the mighty soldiers. All of them were under Abishai’s command. They marched out from Jerusalem and went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.

⁸ They arrived at the great rock in Gibeon. Amasa went there to welcome them. Joab was wearing his military clothes. Over them at his waist he had strapped on a belt that held a dagger. As he stepped forward, he secretly took the dagger out.

⁹ Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my friend?” Then Joab reached out his right hand. He took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him. ¹⁰ Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in Joab’s left hand. Joab stuck it into his stomach. His insides spilled out on the ground. Joab didn’t have to stab him again. Amasa was already dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.

¹¹ One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa’s body. He said to the other men, “Are you pleased with Joab? Are you on David’s side? Then follow Joab!” ¹² Amasa’s body lay covered with his blood in the middle of the road. The man saw that all the troops stopped there. He realized that everyone was stopping to look at Amasa’s body. So he dragged it from the road into a field. Then he threw some clothes on top of it. ¹³ After that happened, everyone continued on with Joab. They went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.

Jesus and the Miracle of Many Fish

21 After this, Jesus appeared to his disciples again. It was by the Sea of Galilee. Here is what happened. ² Simon Peter and Thomas, who was also called Didymus, were there together. Nathanael from Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee were with them. So were two other disciples. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them. They said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat. That night they didn’t catch anything.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, don’t you have any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat. There you will find some fish.” When they did, they could not pull the net into the boat. There were too many fish in it.

⁷ Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Simon Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Peter heard that, he put his coat on. He had taken it off earlier. Then he jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat. They were towing the net full of fish. The shore was only about 100 yards away. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals. There were fish on it. There was also some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat. He dragged the net to shore. It was full of large fish. There were 153 of them. But even with that many fish the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same thing with the fish. ¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Gives Peter His Task

¹⁵ When Jesus and the disciples had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered. “You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ Jesus spoke to him a third time. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He answered, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ What I’m about to tell you is true. When you were younger, you dressed yourself. You went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands. Someone else will dress you. Someone else will lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to point out how Peter would die. His death would bring glory to God. Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

²⁰ Peter turned around. He saw that the disciple Jesus loved was following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper. He had said, “Lord, who is going to hand you over to your enemies?” ²¹ When Peter saw that disciple, he asked, “Lord, what will happen to him?”

²² Jesus answered, “Suppose I want him to remain alive until I return. What does that matter to you? You must follow me.” ²³ Because of what Jesus said, a false report spread among the believers. The story was told that the disciple Jesus loved wouldn’t die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He only said, “Suppose I want him to remain alive until I return. What does that matter to you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who is a witness about these things. He also wrote them down. We know that what he says is true.

²⁵ Jesus also did many other things. What if every one of them were written down? I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.