2 Samuel 20

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home,

¹³that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),

¹³Arise, O Lord, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

²²For they will bring sudden destruction. Who knows what ruin they can bring?

²¹Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

²³When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.

¹⁷but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

⁹Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

⁴⁰Then the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king.

⁴¹Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?”

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

²¹Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”

²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

¹⁶Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

³and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

²⁵Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.

¹⁷Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.

¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

⁸And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”

¹¹Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”

³³“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.

⁷Now therefore get up! Go out and speak comfort to your servants, for I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the adversity that has befallen you from your youth until now!”

⁹When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.

¹⁰And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

³⁸Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.

²³Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

¹⁸and all his servants marched past him—all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath.

²²These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who won a name along with the three mighty men.

²³He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.

¹⁶Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

¹³So Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

⁴Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”

⁵So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him.

⁴⁷While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.

⁴⁸But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁸Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him.”

⁴⁹Going directly to Jesus, he said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

²The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

²³But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²¹And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

⁵Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.

⁶So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.

⁸Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

⁹“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

¹³As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

⁴Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”

³²He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

⁶And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

⁷So Joab’s men, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, marched out of Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri.

²¹That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

¹⁶The Lord is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

²²For they will bring sudden destruction. Who knows what ruin they can bring?

²³But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

²⁵Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.

¹²And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

²¹“Set up the road markers, put up the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours.

⁴⁶Next, they came to Jericho. And as Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho with a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road.

³Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,

¹⁹“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

¹⁰Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

²⁰And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.

⁴And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

¹⁶From there they went on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”

³²So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.

²⁴See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.

²⁰And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.

⁴³For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

⁶For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

²So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

¹⁴There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

³His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

³³Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

¹²Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.

²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

¹⁰When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.

¹¹If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.

¹⁹Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the Lord! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

²for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.

³So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”

¹⁶Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.

²Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her kingdom and its princes.

¹⁷saying, “Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

¹³He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

¹⁰Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁸But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

¹⁶Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.

¹Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

¹⁵For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

⁹They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁹I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.

⁶So he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”

¹Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

¹⁹Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

⁶At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.

⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.

¹³I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

¹⁴There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

¹⁶Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab had restrained them.

²⁸Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

²⁹May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

¹⁶Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

¹⁷Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;

¹⁵Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

¹⁶Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was the scribe;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.

⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

¹⁷Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

¹⁶Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was the scribe;

³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

¹⁴But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

¹¹But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

⁴³He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.