David Defeats His Enemies

¹aAfter this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

²And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³David also defeated bHadadezer king of cZobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument1 at the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took from him 1,000 chariots, d7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king eof Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons2 in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David3 wherever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from fTibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. gWith it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹When hTou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king eof Zobah, ¹⁰he sent his son iHadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against bHadadezer and defeated him; for bHadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. ¹¹These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from jEdom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹²And kAbishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Administration

¹⁴So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵And lJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶mand Zadok the son of Ahitub and nAhimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and oShavsha was secretary; ¹⁷and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the pchief officials in the service of the king.

Warning to the Rich

¹Come now, xyou rich, weep and howl for the ymiseries that are coming upon you. ²zYour riches have rotted and zyour garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. aYou have laid up treasure bin the last days. ⁴Behold, cthe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and dthe cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ethe Lord of hosts. ⁵fYou have lived on the earth in luxury and gin self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ha day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and imurdered jthe righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷Be patient, therefore, brothers,1 until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives kthe early and the late rains. ⁸You also, be patient. lEstablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord mis at hand. ⁹Do not grumble against one another, brothers, nso that you may not be judged; behold, othe Judge is standing pat the door. ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take qthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of rthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen sthe purpose of the Lord, how tthe Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brothers, udo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him vsing praise. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, wanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And xif he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, yconfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, zthat you may be healed. aThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.2 ¹⁷Elijah was a man bwith a nature like ours, and che prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for dthree years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸eThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, fif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone gbrings him back, ²⁰let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering hwill save his soul from death and iwill cover a multitude of sins.

Jonah's Prayer

¹Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ²saying,

x“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,

and he answered me;

yout of the belly of Sheol I cried,

zand you heard my voice.

³aFor you cast me into the deep,

into the heart of the seas,

and the flood surrounded me;

ball your waves and your billows

passed over me.

⁴cThen I said, ‘I am driven away

from your sight;

dyet I shall again look

upon your holy temple.’

⁵eThe waters closed in over me fto take my life;

the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

⁶at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land

whose bars closed upon me forever;

yet you brought up my life from the pit,

O Lord my God.

⁷When my life was fainting away,

I remembered the Lord,

gand my prayer came to you,

into your holy temple.

⁸hThose who pay regard to vain idols

iforsake their hope of steadfast love.

⁹jBut I with the voice of thanksgiving

will sacrifice to you;

what I have vowed I will pay.

kSalvation belongs to the Lord!”

¹⁰And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

¹After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, bhe entered Capernaum. ²Now a centurion had a servant1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³When the centurion2 heard about Jesus, che sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, d“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us eour synagogue.” ⁶And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, fdo not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But gsay the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard these things, hhe marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ifaith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹Soon afterward3 he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹²As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³And when the Lord saw her, khe had compassion on her and lsaid to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴Then he came up and touched mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, narise.” ¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus4 ogave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized them all, and pthey glorified God, saying, q“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and r“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸stThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another?’” ²¹In that hour whe healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and xon many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ythe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, zlepers5 are cleansed, and athe deaf hear, bthe dead are raised up, cthe poor have good news preached to them. ²³And blessed is the one who is dnot offended by me.”

²⁴When John's messengers had gone, Jesus6 began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out einto the wilderness to see? fA reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶What then did you go out to see? gA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written,

h“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹(iWhen all the people heard this, and jthe tax collectors too, they declared God just,7 jhaving been baptized with kthe baptism of John, ³⁰lbut the Pharisees and mthe lawyers nrejected othe purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist has come peating no bread and qdrinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come reating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, sa friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Yet twisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶uOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ³⁷vAnd behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wwiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If xthis man were ya prophet, he zwould have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred adenarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²bWhen they could not pay, he ccancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; dyou gave me no water for my feet, but eshe has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵fYou gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to gkiss my feet. ⁴⁶hYou did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her sins, iwhich are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸And he said to her, j“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹Then those who were at table with him began to say among8 themselves, k“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, l“Your faith has saved you; mgo in peace.”