2 Samuel 21 - 22

David Gives Saul’s Sons to the Gibeonites

And there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of Yahweh. And Yahweh said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned to eradicate us from standing within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh.” And the king said, “I will give them.” 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of Yahweh which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before Yahweh, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest. 10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 Then it was told to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and afterwards God was moved by the entreaty for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 And the Philistines were at war again with Israel, so David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among those born to the giants, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to strike down David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and put him to death. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.” 18 Now it happened afterwards that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among those born to the giants. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 Then there was war at Gath again, and there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giants. 21 And he reproached Israel, so Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were born to the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Song of Deliverance

And David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,

“Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;

My savior, You save me from violence.

I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

For the waves of death encompassed me;

The torrents of vileness terrorized me;

The cords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon Yahweh,

And I called to my God;

And out of His temple He heard my voice,

And my cry for help came into His ears.

Then the earth shook and quaked;

The foundations of heaven were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

Smoke went up out of His nostrils,

And fire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens and came down

With thick darkness under His feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew;

And He appeared upon the wings of the wind.

And He made darkness canopies around Him,

A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

From the brightness before Him

Coals of fire were kindled.

Yahweh thundered from heaven,

And the Most High gave forth His voice.

And He sent out arrows, and scattered them,

Lightning, and threw them into confusion.

Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were laid bare

By the rebuke of Yahweh,

At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

But Yahweh was my support.

He brought me forth also into a broad place;

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of Yahweh,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all His judgments were before me,

And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

I was also blameless toward Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

Therefore Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness before His eyes.

With the kind You show Yourself kind,

With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

With the pure You show Yourself pure,

And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

And You save an afflicted people;

But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You bring down.

For You are my lamp, O Yahweh;

And Yahweh illumines my darkness.

For by You I can run upon a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of Yahweh is tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but Yahweh?

And who is a rock, but our God?

God is my strong fortress;

And He sets the blameless in His way.

He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And sets me on my high places.

He trains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your answer to me makes me great.

You enlarge my steps under me,

And my ankles have not given way.

I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

And I have consumed them and crushed them, so that they did not rise;

And they fell under my feet.

For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,

And I destroyed those who hated me.

They looked, but there was none to save;

Even to Yahweh, but He did not answer them.

Then I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;

I pulverized and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;

You have kept me as head of the nations;

A people whom I have not known serve me.

Foreigners cower before me;

As soon as they hear, they obey me.

Foreigners fade away,

And come trembling out of their fortresses.

Yahweh lives, and blessed be my rock;

And let God, the rock of my salvation, be lifted high,

The God who executes vengeance for me,

And brings down peoples under me,

Who also brings me out from my enemies;

You even lift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the violent man.

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Yahweh, among the nations,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

He gives great salvation to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,

To David and his seed forever.”

Revelation 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His slaves the things which must soon happen; and He indicated this by sending it through His angel to His slave John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the witness of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, for the time is near.

Message to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from the One who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Yes, amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the witness of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write in a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters, 16 and having in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His face was like the sun shining in its power. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not fear; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Ecclesiastes 5

Fear God

Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. 2 Do not be hasty with your mouth or impulsive in your heart to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven but you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. 3 For the dream comes through abundant endeavor and the voice of a fool through abundant words. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and wreak destruction on the work of your hands? 7 For in many dreams and vanities are many words. Rather, fear God.

The Vanity of Riches

8 If you see oppression of the poor and robbery of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished over the matter; for a lofty one keeps watch over another lofty one, and there are loftier ones over them. 9 But the advantage of the land in everything is this—a king committed to a cultivated field. 10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its produce. This too is vanity. 11 When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the success to their masters except to look on with their eyes? 12 The sleep of the laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the satisfaction of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. 13 There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their master to his own evil demise. 14 And those riches were lost through a bad endeavor; and he became the father of a son, but there was nothing in his hand for him. 15 As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will carry nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can bring in his hand. 16 This also is a sickening evil—exactly as a man came, so will he go. So what is the advantage to him who labors for the wind? 17 Also, all his days he eats in darkness with much vexation, and his sickness and anger. 18 Here is what I have seen to be good, which is beautiful: to eat, to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. 19 Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to take up his portion and be glad in his labor; this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not remember much the days of his life because God allows him to occupy himself with the gladness of his heart.