Old/New Testament

David’s Mighty Men

⁸ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains—he wielded his spear against 800 and slew them in one encounter. ⁹ Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle. The men of Israel retreated, ¹⁰ but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines until his hand became weary and stuck to the sword. So Adonai brought about a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.

¹¹ Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. Now the Philistines were assembled in formation where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and struck down the Philistines—so Adonai brought about a great victory.

¹³ Once the three of the thirty chiefs went down and came to David at the cave of Adullam during the harvest, while a troop of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David said longingly, ‘ “Who would get me water to drink from the well which is by the gate in Bethlehem?” ’ ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate, took it and brought it to David. However, he would not drink it but poured it out to Adonai ¹⁷ and he said, “‘Far be it from me, Adonai, that I should do this—the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?’” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸ Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Thirty. Once he wielded his spear against 300 and killed them—he had a reputation among the Three. ¹⁹ He was the most honored of the Thirty, so he was made their commander; however, he did not become one of the Three.

²⁰ Then there was Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds. He killed the two from Ariel of Moab. Once, on a snowy day, he went down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit. ²¹ He also killed an Egyptian—an impressive man—the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²² These sort of things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did, so that he had a name as famous as that of the Three mighty men. ²³ He was most honorable among the Thirty, but he attained not to the first Three. So David set him over his guard.

²⁴ Asahel brother of Joab was one of the Thirty, also Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷ Aviezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹ Heleb son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the wadis of Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmavet the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³ Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet son of Ahasbai son of the Maacathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵ Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor-bearer to Joab son of Zeruiah, ³⁸ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ and Uriah the Hittite—37 in all.

David’s Unauthorized Census

24 Now the anger of Adonai again flared up against Israel, so He incited David against them saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² The king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, so that I may know the sum of the people.”

³ But Joab said to the king, “May Adonai your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king desire such a thing?”

⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s command to Joab and the army generals remained firm. So Joab and the army generals went out from the king’s presence to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer. ⁶ Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi. Then they came to Dan-jaan and round about to Sidon, ⁷ and came to the stronghold of Tyre, to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone throughout all the land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days. ⁹ Joab reported the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: there were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword and the men of Judah were 500,000 men.

¹⁰ But David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David prayed to Adonai, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done! But now, Adonai, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

¹¹ When David rose up in the morning, the word of Adonai came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: ¹² “Go and speak to David, thus says Adonai: ‘Three things I am proposing to you—choose one of them and I will bring it upon you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, saying to him, “Shall seven years of famine come on you in your land? Or will you flee from your adversary for three months while he is pursuing you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should return to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in a great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of Adonai, for His mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man.” ¹⁵ So Adonai sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, so that 70,000 men of the people died from Dan to Beersheba. ¹⁶ When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Adonai relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Now withdraw your hand.” The angel of Adonai was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel that was striking down the people, he spoke to Adonai saying, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong! But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

¹⁸ On that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up, set up an altar to Adonai on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Adonai had commanded. ²⁰ Now when Araunah looked down and saw the king and his courtiers crossing over toward him, Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. ²¹ Then 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 Adonai, so that the plague may be held back from the people.”

²² Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good in his eyes. Look here, the oxen for the burnt offering, as well as the threshing sledges and the ox yokes for the wood. ²³ All this Araunah gives to the king.” Araunah said further to the king, “May Adonai your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you at a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to Adonai my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. ²⁵ Then David built there an altar to Adonai, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So Adonai was moved by prayer of entreaty for the land, and restrained the plague from Israel.

Visiting Zacchaeus in Jericho

19 Now Yeshua entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And here was a man by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ Zacchaeus was trying to see who Yeshua was, but he couldn’t because of the crowd, for he was short in height. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Yeshua, for He was about to pass through that way.

⁵ When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

⁶ Zacchaeus hurried and came down and welcomed Him joyfully.

⁷ But when everyone saw it, they began to grumble, saying, “Yeshua has gone to be the guest of a sinner!”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord. “Look, Master, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have somehow cheated anyone, I repay four times as much!”^[a]

⁹ Then Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this home, because he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

¹¹ As they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they supposed that the kingdom of God was about to appear at once. ¹² Therefore He said, “A certain nobleman went to a faraway land to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³ And calling ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas^[b] and said to them, ‘Do business until I come back.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens detested him and they sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this fellow to reign over us!’ ¹⁵ When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he called for those slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much business they had done. ¹⁶ Now the first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your one mina has made ten.’ ¹⁷ The master said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you were faithful with so little, take charge over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ Also, the second slave came, saying, ‘Your mina, Master, made five.’ ¹⁹ Then he also said to this one, ‘You are likewise over five cities.’ ²⁰ But another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina. I was keeping it safe in a handkerchief, ²¹ for I was afraid of you because you are a strict man. You take what you did not make and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He said to him, ‘By the words of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked slave! You knew that I am strict, taking what I did not make and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I came back I could have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ Then to the bystanders he said, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas!’ ²⁶ ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more shall be given. But from the one who doesn’t have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ²⁷ But those hostile to me, who didn’t want me to reign over them, bring them here and execute them before me.’”