Alpet 2022
King James Version
1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 2. Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3. his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4. the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5. and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron. 6. Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of Saul. 7. And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?" 8. Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, " Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? 9. "May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the LORD has sworn to him–– 10. "to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba." 11. And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him. 12. Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, "Whose is the land?" saying also , "Make your covenant with me, and indeed my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel to you." 13. And David said, "Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face." 14. So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines." 15. And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. 16. Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, "Go, return!" And he returned. 17. Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel, saying, "In time past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18. "Now then, do it ! For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’" 19. And Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin. Then Abner also went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and the whole house of Benjamin. 20. So Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21. Then Abner said to David, "I will arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. 22. At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23. When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace." 24. Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? 25. "Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing." 26. And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it . 27. Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother. 28. Afterward, when David heard it , he said, "My kingdom and I are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29. "Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." 30. So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. 31. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner." And King David followed the coffin. 32. So they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33. And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: "Should Abner die as a fool dies? 34. Your hands were not bound Nor your feet put into fetters; As a man falls before wicked men, so you fell." Then all the people wept over him again. 35. And when all the people came to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, "God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!" 36. Now all the people took note of it , and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. 37. For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner. 38. Then the king said to his servants, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? 39. "And I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too harsh for me. The LORD shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness."
1. "At the same time," says the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people." 2. Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness––Israel, when I went to give him rest." 3. The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying : "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. 4. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. 5. You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. 6. For there shall be a day When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’" 7. For thus says the LORD: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’ 8. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there. 9. They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn. 10. "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ 11. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. 12. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD––For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well–watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all. 13. "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow. 14. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD." 15. Thus says the LORD: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more." 16. Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border. 18. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the LORD my God. 19. Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20. Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD. 21. "Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities. 22. How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth––A woman shall encompass a man." 23. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ 24. "And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. 25. "For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul." 26. After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. 27. "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28. "And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. 29. "In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30. "But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. 31. "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah–– 32. "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34. "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." 35. Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36. "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." 37. Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD. 38. "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39. "The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40. "And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever."
35. "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36. "and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37. "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat , and will come and serve them. 38. "And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39. "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." 41. Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people ?" 42. And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43. "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44. "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45. "But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46. "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him , and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47. "And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes . 48. "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. 49. "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50. "But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51. "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52. "For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53. "Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother–in–law against her daughter–in–law and daughter–in–law against her mother–in–law." 54. Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55. "And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56. "Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? 57. "Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58. "When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59. "I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."