Saturday, 20 April

1.   Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?" 2.   And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, " Are you Ziba?" And he said, "At your service!" 3.   Then the king said, " Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet." 4.   So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar." 5.   Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar. 6.   Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, "Mephibosheth?" And he answered, "Here is your servant!" 7.   So David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually." 8.   Then he bowed himself, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?" 9.   And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, "I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10.   "You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest , that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11.   Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do." "As for Mephibosheth," said the king , "he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons." 12.   Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 13.   So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

1.   It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2.   Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. 3.   And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" 4.   Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. 5.   When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return." 6.   When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah one thousand men, and from Ish–Tob twelve thousand men. 7.   Now when David heard of it , he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 8.   Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish–Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field. 9.   When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. 10.   And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. 11.   Then he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12.   "Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight." 13.   So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14.   When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to Jerusalem. 15.   When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. 16.   Then Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River, and they came to Helam. And Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. 17.   When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. 18.   Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. 19.   And when all the kings who were servants to Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore.

1.   It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle , that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2.   Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3.   So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, " Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4.   Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5.   And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child." 6.   Then David sent to Joab, saying , "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7.   When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8.   And David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 9.   But Uriah 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.   So when they told David, saying, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?" 11.   And Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and 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 Uriah, "Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13.   Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14.   In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15.   And he wrote in the letter, saying, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die." 16.   So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 17.   Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 18.   Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 19.   and charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 20.   if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21.   ‘Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’ ––then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’" 22.   So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 23.   And the messenger said to David, "Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. 24.   "The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also." 25.   Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him." 26.   When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27.   And when her 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.

1.   We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2.   Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 3.   For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me." 4.   For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5.   Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like–minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6.   that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7.   Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 8.   Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9.   and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name." 10.   And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!" 11.   And again: "Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!" 12.   And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope." 13.   Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.