2 Samuel 8

David's Victories

¹gAfter this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took hMetheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

²iAnd he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites jbecame servants to David and kbrought tribute.

³David also defeated lHadadezer the son of Rehob, king of mZobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. ⁴nAnd David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ohamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵pAnd when the qSyrians of Damascus came to help lHadadezer king of mZobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians rbecame servants to David and brought tribute. sAnd the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷And David took tthe shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

⁹When Toi king of uHamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ¹¹vThese also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, ¹²from Edom, wMoab, xthe Ammonites, ythe Philistines, zAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of mZobah.

¹³And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in athe Valley of Salt. ¹⁴Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, band all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Officials

¹⁵So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁶cJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and dJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, ¹⁷and eZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and fSeraiah was secretary, ¹⁸and gBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over1 the hCherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.

2 Samuel 9

David's Kindness to Mephibosheth

¹And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ishow him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” ²Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was jZiba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show kthe kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of lJonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” ⁴The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of mMachir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” ⁵Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. ⁶And nMephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” ⁷And David said to him, “Do not fear, ifor 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 oyou shall eat at my table always.” ⁸And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for pa dead dog such as I?”

⁹Then 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 grandson. ¹⁰And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson oshall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had qfifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth oate at David's1 table, like one of the king's sons. ¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son, rwhose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. ¹³So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ohe ate always at the king's table. Now lhe was lame in both his feet.

¹For I made up my mind unot to make another painful visit to you. ²For vif I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, wfor I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴For xI wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵Now yif anyone has caused pain, zhe has caused it not to me, but ain some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶For such a one, bthis punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷so cyou should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹For this is why I wrote, that I might dtest you and know ewhether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for fwe are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹²When gI came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ha door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³my spirit iwas not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But jthanks be to God, who in Christ always kleads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads lthe fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵For we are the aroma of Christ to God among mthose who are being saved and among nthose who are perishing, ¹⁶oto one a fragrance from death to death, oto the other a fragrance from life to life. pWho is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

The Lord's Faithless Bride

¹Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²b“Son of man, cmake known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an dAmorite and your mother a eHittite. ⁴And as for your birth, fon the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. ⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, gbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, fon the day that you were born.

⁶“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing hin your blood, I said to you hin your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you hin your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷iI made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall jand arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet kyou were naked and bare.

⁸“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and lI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you mand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, nand you became mine. ⁹Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and oanointed you with oil. ¹⁰pI clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.1 ¹¹qAnd I adorned you with ornaments and rput bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. ¹²And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. sYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. tYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ¹⁴And uyour renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

¹⁵v“But you trusted in your beauty wand played the whore2 because of your renown xand lavished your whorings3 on any passerby; your beauty4 became his. ¹⁶You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.5 ¹⁷You also took yyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and zmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. ¹⁸And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, aand set my oil and my incense before them. ¹⁹bAlso my bread that I gave you—sI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ca pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. ²⁰dAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ethese you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter ²¹that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? ²²And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember fthe days of your youth, gwhen you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

²³“And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), ²⁴you built yourself ha vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. ²⁵At the head of every street iyou built your lofty place and made jyour beauty an abomination, koffering yourself6 to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. ²⁶wYou also played the whore lwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, mmultiplying your whoring, nto provoke me to anger. ²⁷Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you oand diminished your allotted portion pand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, qthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. ²⁸wYou played the whore also rwith the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. ²⁹You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land tof Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰“How sick is your heart,7 declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, ³¹building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ubecause you scorned payment. ³²Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³Men give gifts to all prostitutes, vbut you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. ³⁴So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and vyou gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

³⁵“Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, wand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, ³⁷therefore, behold, xI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and yall those you hated. zI will gather them against you from every side aand will uncover your nakedness to them, that bthey may see all your nakedness. ³⁸cAnd I will judge you das women who commit adultery and eshed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your fvaulted chamber and break down gyour lofty places. hThey shall strip you of your clothes and take iyour beautiful jewels and leave you jnaked and bare. ⁴⁰kThey shall bring up a crowd against you, land they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹lAnd they shall mburn your houses and nexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. oI will make you stop playing the whore, and pyou shall also give payment no more. ⁴²qSo will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. ⁴³Because you have not remembered rthe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, sI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not tcommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

⁴⁴“Behold, everyone uwho uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of vyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. wYour mother was a Hittite and wyour father an Amorite. ⁴⁶And xyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and yyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ⁴⁷zNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ayou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. ⁴⁸bAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister cSodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, dexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. ⁵⁰They were haughty and edid an abomination before me. So fI removed them, when I saw it. ⁵¹gSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and hhave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. ⁵²iBear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³j“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, ⁵⁴that you may bear your disgrace kand be ashamed of all that you have done, lbecoming a consolation to them. ⁵⁵As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, jand Samaria and her daughters shall return mto their former state, jand you and your daughters shall return mto your former state. ⁵⁶Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth nin the day of your pride, ⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become oan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria8 and all those around her, and for pthe daughters of the Philistines, qthose all around who despise you. ⁵⁸rYou bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.

The Lord's Everlasting Covenant

⁵⁹“For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you swho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, ⁶⁰yet tI will remember my covenant with you uin the days of your youth, vand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. ⁶¹wThen you will remember your ways xand be ashamed when you take yyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you zas daughters, but not on account of9 the covenant with you. ⁶²I will establish my covenant with you, aand you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³that you may remember and be confounded, and bnever open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Psalm 58

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to hDo Not Destroy. A iMiktam1 of David.

¹Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?2

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

²No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands jdeal out violence on earth.

³The wicked are kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

⁴lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

⁵so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

⁶O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

⁷Let them ovanish like water that runs away;

when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

⁸Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,

like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

⁹Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!3

¹⁰tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Mankind will say, “Surely there is va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.”

Psalm 59

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to xDo Not Destroy. A yMiktam1 of David, zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

¹aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

bprotect me from those who crise up against me;

²deliver me from dthose who work evil,

and save me from ebloodthirsty men.

³For behold, they flie in wait for my life;

fierce men gstir up strife against me.

hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

⁴for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

iAwake, come to meet me, and see!

⁵You, jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

⁶Each evening they kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

⁷There they are, lbellowing with their mouths

with mswords in their lips—

for n“Who,” they think,2 “will hear us?”

⁸But you, O Lord, olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

⁹O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are pmy fortress.

¹⁰qMy God in his steadfast love3 rwill meet me;

God will let me slook in triumph on my enemies.

¹¹Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter4 by your power and tbring them down,

O Lord, our ushield!

¹²For vthe sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

¹³wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ythe ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

¹⁵They awander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me ba fortress

and ca refuge in dthe day of my distress.

¹⁷O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, bare my fortress,

ethe God who shows me steadfast love.