Old/New Testament
The Famine
21 There was a famine in the days of David for three years in a row.
David sought the favor[a] of the Lord, and the Lord said, “There is blood guilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.
(The Gibeonites were not related to the people of Israel, but they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had given them a sworn promise, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How will I make atonement[b] to you so you will bless the heritage of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “The issue between us and Saul and his house cannot be settled with silver and gold. Nor is it up to us to put anyone in Israel to death.”
So David said, “Well then, what are you saying I should do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “From the man who consumed us and who planned to destroy us so that we would have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 we ask you to give us seven of his male descendants. Allow us to hang them up before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the chosen of the Lord.”
The king said, “I will grant it.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. 8 The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had given birth, and the five sons of Merab,[c] the daughter of Saul, to whom she gave birth for Adriel son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. 9 David handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died together. They were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself near the rock. From the beginning of the grain harvest until rain started falling on them from the sky,[d] she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 David was informed about what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and got the bones of Saul and the bones of Saul’s son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. 13 He brought the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from there. They also gathered the bones of the men who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Saul’s son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father. They did everything the king commanded. After that, God responded to the prayers for the land.
Battles With the Philistine Giants
15 War occurred again between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his troops and fought against the Philistines. David became very tired. 16 Ishbi Benob was one of the descendants of Rapha the giant.[e] His bronze spear weighed more than seven pounds,[f] and he was equipped with a new weapon. He said that he was going to kill David. 17 Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid. He attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You are not to go out to battle with us anymore, so that you do not put out the lamp of Israel.”
18 After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, in which Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was also descended from Rapha the giant.
19 There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Elhanan son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[g] whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.
20 There was war again in Gath. There was a very tall man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha the giant. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,[h] the brother of David, killed him. 22 These four were descended from Rapha the giant in Gath. They fell at the hand of David and his servants.
A Psalm by David
(Psalm 18)[i]
22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the grasp of all his enemies, even from the grasp of Saul. 2 He said:
The Lord is my rocky cliff,
my stronghold, and my deliverer.
3 My God is my rock. I take refuge in him.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my high fortress, my refuge, and my savior.
You save me from violence.
4 I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 The waves of death swirled around me.
Floodwaters of destruction[j] rolled over me.
6 The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
The traps of death threatened me.
7 In my distress I called to the Lord.
To my God I cried out.
He heard my voice from his temple.
My cry for help reached his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and quaked,
and the foundations of the heavens[k] trembled.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and fire out of his mouth devoured.
Coals were set on fire by it.
10 Then he tore open the heavens and came down.
A dark cloud was under his feet.
11 He rode upon a cherub,[l] and he flew.
He soared[m] on the wings of the wind.
12 He made the darkness around him his shelter,
the dark rain clouds of the sky.[n]
13 From the brightness in front of him, coals of fire burned.
14 Then the Lord thundered in the heavens.
The Most High raised his voice.
15 Then he shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.
He hurled great bolts of lightning and routed them.
16 Then the sources of the sea[o] were revealed,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
by the rebuke of the Lord,
by the breath of wind from his nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters.
18 Because they were too strong for me,
he rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hate me.
19 They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
but the Lord supported me.
20 Then he brought me out into a wide open space.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he has repaid me,
22 because I have kept the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil and departed from my God.
23 So all his just decrees remain before me,
and I have not turned away from his statutes.
24 I have been blameless with him.
I have kept myself from guilt.
25 The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands[p] in his sight.
26 To the merciful[q] you reveal yourself as merciful.
To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.
27 To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,
but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty.[r]
28 Yes, you save humble people,
but your eyes are on the proud, and you bring them down.
29 Yes, you are my lamp, O Lord.
The Lord turns my darkness to light.
30 For with you I can charge against a battalion,[s]
and with my God I can jump over a wall.
31 This God—his way is blameless.
The speech of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
33 This God wraps me with strength[t]
and makes my way smooth.[u]
34 By making my feet like those of a deer,
he enables me to stand on high places.
35 Because he trains my hands for battle,
my arms can draw a bronze bow.
36 Then you give me the shield of your salvation.
Your response makes me great.
37 You widen the path under my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursued my enemies, and I destroyed them.
Yes, I did not turn back until they were wiped out.
39 I wiped them out. I crushed them.
They could not rise again.
They fell beneath my feet.
40 You wrapped me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down to me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs and flee.
I destroyed those who hate me.
42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them.
They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 So I ground them as fine as dust of the earth.
I scattered them and trampled them down like mud in the streets.
44 You delivered me from the accusations of my people.
You preserved me as the head of nations.
A people I did not know serve me.
45 Foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
46 Foreigners fall exhausted.
They come trembling from their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!
May God, the Rock who saves me, be exalted!
48 This God, who avenges me, subdues peoples under me.
49 You delivered me from my enemies.
Yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me.
You rescued me from the violent man.
50 Therefore, I will thank you among the nations, Lord.
To your name I will make music.
51 By providing great salvation for his King,
he shows mercy to his Anointed One,
to David and to his Seed[v] forever.
24 When Jesus saw that the man became very sad, he said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible for God.”
28 And Peter said, “Look, we have left our possessions[a] and followed you.”
29 He said to them, “Amen I tell you: Anyone who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will most certainly receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection Again
31 He took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 Indeed, he will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, mistreat him, spit on him, 33 flog him, and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.”
34 They did not understand any of these things. What he said was hidden from them, and they did not understand what was said.
Blind Bartimaeus
35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man sat by the road, begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who were at the front of the crowd rebuked him, telling him to be quiet. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see again.”
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.”
43 Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw this, gave praise to God.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.