Old/New Testament

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 And David said, “Is there still any one left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “Your servant is he.” ³ And the king said, “Is there not still some one of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” ⁴ The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Am′miel, at Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Am′miel, at Lo-debar. ⁶ And Mephib′osheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. And David said, “Mephib′osheth!” And he answered, “Behold, your servant.” ⁷ And David said to him, “Do not fear; for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat at my table always.” ⁸ And he did obeisance, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?”

⁹ Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s son. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s son may have bread to eat; but Mephib′osheth your master’s son shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephib′osheth ate at David’s^[a] table, like one of the king’s sons. ¹² And Mephib′osheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who dwelt in Ziba’s house became Mephib′osheth’s servants. ¹³ So Mephib′osheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

The Ammonites and Arameans Are Defeated

10 After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off half the beard of each, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become odious to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-re′hob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of Ma′acah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Jo′ab and all the host of the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate; and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Ma′acah, were by themselves in the open country.

⁹ When Jo′ab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the picked men of Israel, and arrayed them against the Syrians; ¹⁰ the rest of his men he put in the charge of Abi′shai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ¹² Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹³ So Jo′ab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians; and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abi′shai, and entered the city. Then Jo′ab returned from fighting against the Ammonites, and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And Hadade′zer sent, and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphra′tes;^[b] and they came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadade′zer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians arrayed themselves against David, and fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants of Hadade′zer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel, and became subject to them. So the Syrians feared to help the Ammonites any more.

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Jo′ab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

² It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³ And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathshe′ba, the daughter of Eli′am, the wife of Uri′ah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am with child.”

⁶ So David sent word to Jo′ab, “Send me Uri′ah the Hittite.” And Jo′ab sent Uri′ah to David. ⁷ When Uri′ah came to him, David asked how Jo′ab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. ⁸ Then David said to Uri′ah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uri′ah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. ⁹ But Uri′ah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ When they told David, “Uri′ah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uri′ah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uri′ah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths; and my lord Jo′ab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uri′ah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uri′ah remained in Jerusalem that day, and the next. ¹³ And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

David Has Uriah Killed

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Jo′ab, and sent it by the hand of Uri′ah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote, “Set Uri′ah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” ¹⁶ And as Jo′ab was besieging the city, he assigned Uri′ah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ And the men of the city came out and fought with Jo′ab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uri′ah the Hittite was slain also. ¹⁸ Then Jo′ab sent and told David all the news about the fighting; ¹⁹ and he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, ²⁰ then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Abim′elech the son of Jerub′besheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uri′ah the Hittite is dead also.’”

²² So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Jo′ab had sent him to tell. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field; but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king’s servants are dead; and your servant Uri′ah the Hittite is dead also.” ²⁵ David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Jo′ab, ‘Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; strengthen your attack upon the city, and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

²⁶ When the wife of Uri′ah heard that Uri′ah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. ²⁷ And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; ¹² and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would gladly have fed on^[a] the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[b] 22} But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; ²³ and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.

²⁵ “Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”