Old/New Testament
The Death of King Saul
10 The Philistine people fought against the people of Israel. The Israelites ran away from them. And many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines continued chasing Saul and his sons. And they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting became heavy around Saul. The archers shot him with their arrows and wounded him.
4 Then Saul said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and kill me. If you don’t, these men who are not circumcised will come and hurt me.” But the officer was afraid. So he refused to kill Saul. Then Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 The officer saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died. 6 So Saul and three of his sons died. All his family died together.
7 The Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had run away. And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in those towns.
8 The next day the Philistines came to take valuable things from the dead bodies. On Mount Gilboa they found the bodies of Saul and his sons. 9 The Philistines stripped Saul’s body. And they took his head and his armor. They sent messengers through all their country to tell the news to their idols and their people. 10 The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the temple of their idols. And they hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 All the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So all the brave men from Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh Gilead. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the large tree in Jabesh. And they gave up eating for seven days.
13 Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord. He did not obey the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for advice. 14 He did this instead of asking the Lord for help. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son David.
David Becomes King
11 All the people of Israel came to David at the town of Hebron. They said, “We are your people. 2 Even when Saul was king, you were the man who led Israel in battle. The Lord your God spoke to you. He said, ‘David, you will be the shepherd of my people, the people of Israel. You will become their leader.’”
3 All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made an agreement with them before the Lord in Hebron. The leaders poured olive oil on David to appoint him king over Israel. The Lord had promised this would happen. He had made this promise through Samuel.
David Defeats Jerusalem
4 David and all the Israelites went to the city of Jerusalem. At that time Jerusalem was called Jebus. The people living there were named Jebusites. 5 They said to David, “You can’t get inside our city.” But David captured their strong city of Jerusalem, the City of David.
6 David had said, “The person who leads the attack against the Jebusites will become the commander over all my army.” Joab son of Zeruiah led the attack. So he became the commander of the army.
7 Then David made his home in the strong, walled city. That is why it was named the City of David. 8 David rebuilt the city. He started where the land was filled in and went to the wall that was around the city. Joab repaired the other parts of the city. 9 David became more and more powerful. And the Lord of heaven’s armies was with him.
David’s Mighty Warriors
10 This is a list of the leaders over David’s warriors. These warriors helped make David’s kingdom strong. All the people of Israel also supported David’s kingdom. These heroes and all the people of Israel made David king. This happened as the Lord had promised.
11 This is a list of David’s warriors:
Jashobeam was from the Hacmonite people. He was the leader of the Three,[a] David’s most powerful soldiers. He used his spear to fight 300 men at one time. And he killed them all.
12 Next was Eleazar. He was one of the Three. Eleazar was Dodai’s son. Dodai was from the Ahohite people. 13 Eleazar was with David at Pas-Dammim. The Philistines came there to fight the Israelites. There was a field of barley at that place. The Israelites ran away from the Philistines. 14 But they stopped in the middle of that field and fought the Philistines. And they killed the Philistines. The Lord gave Israel a great victory.
15 Three of the 30 leaders went to David. He was at the rock by the cave near Adullam. At the same time a group from the Philistine army was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.
16 David was in a protected place at that time. The Philistine army was staying in the town of Bethlehem. 17 David had a strong desire for some water. He said, “Oh, I wish someone would get me water from the well near the city gate of Bethlehem!” 18 So the Three fought their way through the Philistine army. And they took water out of the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. Then they took it back to David. But he refused to drink it. He poured it out before the Lord. 19 David said, “May God keep me from drinking this water! It would be like drinking the blood of the men who risked their lives to bring me this water.” So David refused to drink it.
These were the brave things the Three did.
20 Abishai brother of Joab was the leader of the Three. Abishai fought 300 men with his spear and killed them. He became as famous as the Three. 21 He was more honored than the Three. He became their commander even though he was not one of them.
22 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave fighter from Kabzeel. Benaiah did many brave things. He killed two of the best warriors from Moab. He also went down into a pit when it was snowing. There he killed a lion. 23 Benaiah also killed an Egyptian who was about seven and a half feet tall. The Egyptian had a spear as large as a weaver’s rod. Benaiah had a club. But he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. And he used the Egyptian’s own spear to kill him. 24 These were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did. Benaiah became as famous as the Three. 25 He received more honor than the Thirty, David’s most powerful soldiers. But he did not become a member of the Three. David chose Benaiah to be the leader of his bodyguards.
26 These were also mighty warriors:
Asahel brother of Joab;
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem;
27 Shammoth from the Harorites;
Helez from the Pelonites;
28 Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa;
Abiezer from the Anathothites;
29 Sibbecai from the Hushathites;
Ilai from the Ahohites;
30 Maharai from the Netophathites;
Heled son of Baanah from the Netophathites;
31 Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin.
Benaiah from the Pirathonites;
32 Hurai from the ravines of Gaash;
Abiel from the Arbathites;
33 Azmaveth from the Baharumites;
Eliahba from the Shaalbonites;
34 the sons of Hashem from the Gizonites;
Jonathan son of Shagee from the Hararites;
35 Ahiam son of Sacar from the Hararites;
Eliphal son of Ur;
36 Hepher from the Mekerathites;
Ahijah from the Pelonites;
37 Hezro from the Carmelites;
Naarai son of Ezbai;
38 Joel brother of Nathan;
Mibhar son of Hagri;
39 Zelek from the Ammonites;
Naharai, from the Berothites, the officer who carried the armor for Joab son of Zeruiah;
40 Ira from the Ithrites;
Gareb from the Ithrites;
41 Uriah from the Hittites;
Zabad son of Ahlai;
42 Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, who was the leader of the Reubenites, and his 30 soldiers;
43 Hanan son of Maacah;
Joshaphat from the Mithnites;
44 Uzzia from the Ashterathites;
Shama and Jeiel sons of Hotham from the Aroer;
45 Jediael son of Shimri;
Joha, Jediael’s brother, from the Tizites;
46 Eliel from the Mahavites;
Jeribai and Joshaviah, Elnaam’s sons;
Ithmah from the Moabites;
47 Eliel, Obed and Jaasiel from the Mezobaites.
Warriors Join David
12 These were the men who came to David at Ziklag. David was hiding from Saul son of Kish at that time. These were the men who helped David in battle. 2 They came with bows for weapons. They could use either their right or left hands to shoot arrows or to sling rocks. They were Saul’s relatives from the tribe of Benjamin. 3 Ahiezer was their leader. And there was Joash. (Ahiezer and Joash were Shemaah’s sons. He was from the town of Gibeah.) There were also Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth. There were Beracah and Jehu from the town of Anathoth. 4 And there was Ishmaiah from the town of Gibeon. Ishmaiah was one of the Thirty. In fact, he was the leader of the Thirty. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan and Jozabad from Gederah. 5 There were Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah and Shemariah. There was Shephatiah from Haruph. 6 There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They were from the family group of Korah. 7 And there were Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham. They were from the town of Gedor.
8 Part of the people of Gad joined David at his protected place in the desert. They were brave warriors trained for war. They were skilled with shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions. And they could run as fast as gazelles over the hills.
9 Ezer was the leader of Gad’s army. Obadiah was second in command. Eliab was third. 10 Mishmannah was fourth, and Jeremiah was fifth. 11 Attai was sixth, and Eliel was seventh. 12 Johanan was eighth, and Elzabad was ninth. 13 Jeremiah was tenth, and Macbannai was eleventh in command.
14 They were the commanders of the army from Gad. The weakest of these leaders was in charge of 100 soldiers. The strongest was in charge of 1,000 soldiers. 15 They crossed the Jordan River and chased away the people living in the valleys. They chased them to the east and to the west. This happened in the first month of the year when the Jordan floods the valley.
16 Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his protected place. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But you might have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong. If you do this, the God of our ancestors will see this and punish you.”
18 Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty. Amasai said:
“We belong to you, David.
We are with you, son of Jesse.
Success, success to you.
Success to those who help you,
because your God helps you.”
So David welcomed these men. He made them leaders of his army.
19 Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David. They joined him when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed!” 20 The men from Manasseh joined David when he went to Ziklag. These were the men: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each of these men was a leader of a thousand men from Manasseh. 21 All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers. They helped David fight against groups of men who went around the country robbing people. These soldiers became commanders in David’s army. 22 Every day more men joined David. So his army became large. It was like the army of God.
Others Join David at Hebron
23 These are the numbers of the men who joined David at Hebron. They came ready for battle. They came to help turn the kingdom of Saul over to David. The Lord had said this would happen.
24 There were 6,800 men with their weapons from the people of Judah. They carried shields and spears.
25 There were 7,100 men from the people of Simeon. They were warriors ready for war.
26 There were 4,600 men from the people of Levi. 27 Jehoiada, a leader from Aaron’s family, was in that group. There were 3,700 with him. 28 Zadok was also in that group. He was a strong young warrior. He came with 22 leaders from his family.
29 There were 3,000 men from the people of Benjamin. They were Saul’s relatives. And most of them had remained loyal to Saul’s family until then.
30 There were 20,800 men from the people of Ephraim. They were brave warriors. They were famous men in their own family groups.
31 There were 18,000 men from the western half-tribe of Manasseh. Each man was especially chosen to make David king.
32 There were 200 leaders from the family of Issachar. They knew what Israel should do. And they knew the right time to do it. Their relatives were with them and under their command.
33 There were 50,000 men from the people of Zebulun. They were trained soldiers. They were trained to use every kind of weapon of war. They followed David completely.
34 There were 1,000 officers from the people of Naphtali. They had 37,000 men with them who carried shields and spears.
35 There were 28,600 men from the people of Dan. They were ready for war.
36 There were 40,000 trained soldiers from the people of Asher. They were ready for war.
37 There were 120,000 men from the east side of the Jordan River. They were from the people of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. They had every kind of weapon.
38 All these fighting men were ready to go to war. They came to Hebron fully agreed to make David king of all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed to make David king. 39 The men spent three days there with David. They ate and drank, because their relatives had prepared food for them. 40 Also, their neighbors brought food. They came from as far as the areas belonging to Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. They brought much flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cows and sheep. This was because the people of Israel were very happy.
45 It is written in the prophets, ‘God will teach all the people.’[a] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God. Only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth. He who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread that gives life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert. But still they died. 50 Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh. I will give my flesh so that the people in the world may have life.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue among themselves. They said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. You must eat the flesh of the Son of Man. And you must drink his blood. If you don’t do this, then you won’t have real life in you. 54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. 55 My flesh is true food. My blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him. 57 The Father sent me. The Father lives, and I live because of the Father. So he who eats me will live because of me. 58 I am not like the bread our ancestors ate. They ate that bread, but still they died. I am the bread that came down from heaven. He who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said all these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 The followers of Jesus heard this. Many of them said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”
61 Jesus knew that his followers were complaining about this. So he said, “Does this teaching bother you? 62 Then will it also bother you to see the Son of Man going back to the place where he came from? 63 It is not the flesh that gives a person life. It is the spirit that gives life. The words I told you are spirit, and so they give life. 64 But some of you don’t believe.” (Jesus knew who did not believe. He knew this from the beginning. And he knew who would turn against him.) 65 Jesus said, “That is the reason I said, ‘If the Father does not let a person come to me, then he cannot come.’”
66 After Jesus said this, many of his followers left him. They stopped following him.
67 Jesus asked the 12 followers, “Do you want to leave, too?”
68 Simon Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, who would we go to? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe in you. We know that you are the Holy One from God.”
70 Then Jesus answered, “I chose all 12 of you. But 1 of you is a devil.”
71 Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was 1 of the 12. But later he was going to turn against Jesus.
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