Old/New Testament

Saul and Jonathan Are Dead

1 Now it happened after ^(A)the death of Saul, that David returned from ^(B)striking down the Amalekites. Then David remained two days in Ziklag. ² Now it happened that on the third day, behold, ^(C)a man came out of the camp from Saul. And ^(D)his clothes were torn and ^[a]dust was on his head. And it happened when he came to David, that ^(E)he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. ³ Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ And David said to him, “^(F)How did things go? Tell me now.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” ⁵ So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^(G)Mount Gilboa, and behold, ^(H)Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely. ⁷ Then he turned to look behind him, and he saw me and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ^[b]answered him, ‘^(I)I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and put me to death, for agony has seized me because my ^[c]life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him ^(J)and put him to death, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^(K)I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then ^(L)David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they lamented and wept and ^(M)fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of ^[d]Yahweh and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he ^[e]answered, “^(N)I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^(O)to send forth your hand to destroy the anointed of Yahweh?” ¹⁵ And David called one of the young men and said, “Approach and fall upon him.” ^(P)So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, “^(Q)Your blood is on your head, for ^(R)your mouth has answered against you, saying, ‘I have put the anointed of Yahweh to death.’”

David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David ^(S)chanted with this funeral lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in ^(T)the book of Jashar.

David Anointed King of Judah

2 Now it happened afterwards that ^(AJ)David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “^(AK)To Hebron.” ² So David went up there, and ^(AL)his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ³ And ^(AM)David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron. ⁴ Then the men of Judah came and there ^(AN)anointed David king over the house of Judah.

And they told David, saying, “It was ^(AO)the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” ⁵ And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “^(AP)May you be blessed of Yahweh because you have ^[g]shown this lovingkindness with your lord, with Saul, and have buried him. ⁶ So now, ^(AQ)may Yahweh ^[h]show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will ^[i]show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. ⁷ So now, let your hands be strong and be ^[j]valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel

⁸ Now ^(AR)Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken ^[k]Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^(AS)Mahanaim. ⁹ And he made him king over ^(AT)Gilead, over the ^(AU)Ashurites, over ^(AV)Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel. ¹⁰ Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. ^11 (AW)And the ^[l]time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Abner Defeated Before David

¹² Now Abner the son of Ner, went out from Mahanaim to ^(AX)Gibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul. ¹³ And ^(AY)Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met ^[m]them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, ^[n]one on the one side of the pool and ^[o]the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men arise and ^[p](AZ)hold a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” ¹⁵ So they arose and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶ And each one of them seized his ^[q]opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his ^[r]opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called ^[s]Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷ And that day the battle was very severe, and ^(BA)Abner and the men of Israel were ^[t]defeated before the servants of David.

¹⁸ Now ^(BB)the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was ^(BC)as ^[u]swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in the field. ¹⁹ And Asahel pursued Abner and did not ^[v]turn to the right or to the left from following Abner. ²⁰ Then Abner turned to look behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹ So Abner said to him, “^[w]Turn to your right or to your left, and seize one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. ²² And Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn ^[x]aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? ^(BD)How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” ²³ However, he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it happened that all who came to the place where ^(BE)Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. Now the sun was going down, and they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵ And the sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band, and they stood on the top of a certain hill. ²⁶ Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you ^[y]refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?” ²⁷ And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have only gone away in the morning, each from following his brother.” ²⁸ So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no longer, ^(BF)nor did they continue to fight anymore. ²⁹ But Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to ^(BG)Mahanaim.

³⁰ Now Joab returned from following Abner. And he had gathered all the people together, and ^[z]nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing. ³¹ But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that 360 men died. ³² And they took up Asahel and buried him ^(BH)in his father’s tomb which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night until the day ^[aa]dawned at Hebron.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

14 And it happened that when He went into the house of one of the ^[a]leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, ^(A)they were watching Him closely. ² And behold, in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. ³ And Jesus answered and spoke to the ^(B)scholars of the Law and Pharisees, saying, “^(C)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they were silent. And He took hold of him, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ And He said to them, “^[b](D)Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” ^6 (E)And they could make no reply to this.

Parable of the Wedding Feast

⁷ And He was telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how ^(F)they were picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ^(G)do not recline at the place of honor, lest someone more highly regarded than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then ^(H)in shame you ^[c]proceed to occupy the last place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, ^(I)move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who recline at the table with you. ^11 (J)For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. ¹³ But when you give a ^[d]reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, since they ^[e]do not have the means to repay you; for it will be repaid to you at ^(K)the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵ But when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “^(L)Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Parable of the Dinner

¹⁶ And He said to him, “^(M)A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many. ¹⁷ And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a ^[f]piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, consider me excused.’ ²⁰ And another one said, ‘^(N)I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ ²¹ And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the ^[g]fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”