Old/New Testament
The Gibeonites Punish Saul’s Family
21 During the time David was king, there was a time of hunger. It continued for three years. So David prayed to the Lord.
The Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for this time of hunger. It has come because Saul killed the Gibeonites.” 2 (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites. They were a group of Amorites who were left alive. The Israelites had promised not to hurt the Gibeonites. But Saul was very eager to help the people of Israel and Judah. So he tried to kill all the Gibeonites.)
King David called the Gibeonites together and talked to them. 3 He asked them, “What can I do for you? What can I do to take away Israel’s sin so you can bless the Lord’s people?”
4 The Gibeonites said to David, “Saul and his family don’t have enough silver and gold to pay for what they did! And we don’t have the right to kill anyone in Israel.”
Then David asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
5 The Gibeonites said to him, “Saul made plans against us. He tried to destroy all our people who are left in the land of Israel. 6 Saul was the Lord’s chosen king. So bring seven of his sons to us. Then we will kill them and hang them on stakes. We will put them in front of the Lord at Gibeah, Saul’s hometown.”
The king said, “I will give them to you.” 7 But the king protected Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. (Jonathan was Saul’s son.) David did this because of the promise he had made to Jonathan in the Lord’s name. So the king did not let them hurt Mephibosheth. 8 But the king did take Armoni and Mephibosheth,[a] sons of Rizpah and Saul. (Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah.) And the king took the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab. Adriel was the father of Merab’s five sons. (Adriel was the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.) 9 David gave these seven sons to the Gibeonites. Then the Gibeonites killed them and hung them on stakes on a hill before the Lord. All seven sons died together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest season. (The barley harvest was just beginning.)
10 Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took the rough cloth that was worn to show sadness. Then she put it on a rock for herself. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on her sons’ bodies. During the day she did not let the birds of the sky touch her sons’ bodies. At night she did not let the wild animals touch them.
11 People told David what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s slave woman, was doing. 12 Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken these bones secretly from the public square of Beth Shan. The Philistines had hung the bodies of Saul and Jonathan there after they had killed Saul at Gilboa.) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Gilead. Then the people gathered the bodies of Saul’s seven sons who were hanged on stakes. 14 The people buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in Benjamin. They buried them in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. The people did everything the king commanded.
Then God answered the prayers of the people in the land.
Wars with the Philistines
15 Again there was war between the Philistines and Israel. David and his men went out to fight the Philistines. But David became tired and weak. 16 Ishbi-Benob was one of the sons of Rapha. His bronze spearhead weighed about seven and a half pounds. Ishbi-Benob had a new sword, and he planned to kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed the Philistine. So he saved David’s life.
Then David’s men made a promise to David. They said, “Never again will you go out with us to battle. If you were killed, Israel would lose its greatest leader.”
18 Later, at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another one of the sons of Rapha.
19 Later, there was another battle at Gob with the Philistines. Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem killed Goliath[b] from Gath. Goliath’s spear was as large as a weaver’s rod.
20 At Gath another battle took place. A very large man was there. He had 6 fingers on each hand. And he had 6 toes on each foot. He had 24 fingers and toes in all. This man also was one of the sons of Rapha. 21 When he challenged Israel, Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was the son of Shimeah, David’s brother.
22 These four men were sons of Rapha from Gath. They all were killed by David and his men.
David’s Song of Praise
22 David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies. 2 He said:
“The Lord is my rock, my place of safety, my Savior.
3 My God is my rock.
I can run to him for safety.
He is my shield and my saving strength.
The Lord is my high tower and my place of safety.
The Lord saves me from those who want to harm me.
4 I will call to the Lord.
He is worthy of praise.
And I will be saved from my enemies.
5 “The waves of death came around me.
The deadly rivers overwhelmed me.
6 The ropes of death wrapped around me.
The traps of death were before me.
7 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
I cried out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My call for help reached his ears.
8 “The earth trembled and shook.
The foundations of heaven began to shake.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
9 Smoke came out of his nose.
Burning fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals went before him.
10 He tore open the sky and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
11 He rode a creature with wings and flew.
He flew on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his shelter around him,
surrounded by fog and clouds.
13 Out of the brightness of his presence
came flashes of lightning.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven.
The Most High God raised his voice.
15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies.
His bolts of lightning confused them with fear.
16 The Lord spoke strongly.
The wind blew from his nose.
The valleys of the sea appeared.
The foundations of the earth were seen.
17 “The Lord reached down from above and took me.
He pulled me from the deep water.
18 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
Those who hated me were too strong for me.
19 They attacked me at my time of trouble.
But the Lord supported me.
20 He took me to a safe place.
Because he delights in me, he saved me.
21 “The Lord spared me because I did what was right.
Because I have not done evil, he has rescued me.
22 I have followed the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil by turning from my God.
23 I remember all his laws.
I have not broken his rules.
24 I have kept myself innocent before him.
I have kept myself from doing evil.
25 The Lord rescued me because I did what was right.
I did what the Lord said was right.
26 “Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal.
You are good to those who are good.
27 You are pure to those who are pure.
But you are against those who are bad.
28 You save those who are not proud.
But you make humble those who are proud.
29 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
The Lord brightens the darkness around me.
30 With your help, I can attack an army.
With God’s help, I can jump over a wall.
31 “The ways of God are without fault.
The Lord’s words are pure.
He is a shield to those who trust him.
32 Who is God? Only the Lord.
Who is the Rock? Only our God.
33 God is my protection.
He makes my way free from fault.
34 He makes me like a deer, which does not stumble.
He helps me stand on the steep mountains.
35 He trains my hands for battle.
So my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You protect me with your saving shield.
You have stooped to make me great.
37 You give me a better way to live.
So I live as you want me to.
38 I chased my enemies and destroyed them.
I did not quit till they were destroyed.
39 I destroyed and crushed them,
so they couldn’t rise up again.
They fell beneath my feet.
40 You gave me strength in battle.
You made my enemies bow before me.
41 You made my enemies turn back.
I destroyed those who hated me.
42 They called for help,
but no one came to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
43 I beat my enemies into pieces.
They were like dust on the ground.
I pounded them out and walked on them
like mud in the streets.
44 “You saved me when my people attacked me.
You kept me as the leader of nations.
People I never knew serve me.
45 Foreigners obey me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
46 They all become afraid.
They tremble in their hiding places.
47 “The Lord lives!
May my Rock be praised!
Praise God, the Rock, who saves me!
48 God gives me victory over my enemies.
He brings people under my rule.
49 He frees me from my enemies.
“You set me over those who hate me.
You saved me from cruel men.
50 So I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.
I will sing praises to your name.
51 The Lord gives great victories to his king.
He is loyal to his appointed king,
to David and his descendants forever.”
24 When Jesus saw that the man was sad, he said, “It will be very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!”
Who Can Be Saved?
26 When the people heard this, they asked, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus answered, “The things impossible for men are possible for God.”
28 Peter said, “Look, we left everything we had and followed you!”
29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. Everyone who has left his house, wife, brothers, parents, or children for God’s kingdom 30 will get much more than he left. He will receive many times more in this life. And after he dies, he will live with God forever.”
Jesus Will Rise from Death
31 Then Jesus talked to the 12 apostles alone. He said to them, “Listen! We are going to Jerusalem. Everything that God told the prophets to write about the Son of Man will happen! 32 He will be turned over to the non-Jewish people. They will laugh at him, insult him, and spit on him. 33 They will beat him with whips and then kill him. But on the third day after his death, he will rise to life again.” 34 The apostles tried to understand this, but they could not; the meaning was hidden from them.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
35 Jesus was coming near the city of Jericho. There was a blind man sitting beside the road, begging for money. 36 When he heard the people coming down the road, he asked, “What is happening?”
37 They told him, “Jesus, the one from Nazareth, is coming here.”
38 The blind man cried out, “Jesus, Son of David! Please help me!”
39 The people who were in front, leading the group, told the blind man to be quiet. But the blind man shouted more and more, “Son of David, please help me!”
40 Jesus stopped and said, “Bring the blind man to me!” When he came near, Jesus 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, “Then see! You are healed because you believed.”
43 At once the man was able to see, and he followed Jesus, thanking God. All the people who saw this praised God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.