David’s Victories

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

2 ⁱAnd 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.

3 David also defeated ^lHadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^mZobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 ⁿAnd 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. 5 ^pAnd when the ^qSyrians of Damascus came to help ^lHadadezer king of ^mZobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then 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. 7 And David took ^tthe shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

9 When Toi king of ^uHamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi 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. 11 ^vThese also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, ^wMoab, ^xthe Ammonites, ^ythe Philistines, ^zAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^mZobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^athe Valley of Salt. 14 Then 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

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

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ⁱshow him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now 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.” 3 And 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.” 4 The 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.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And 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.” 7 And 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.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for ^pa dead dog such as I?”

9 Then 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. 10 And 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. 11 Then 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’s² table, like one of the king’s sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^rwhose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ohe ate always at the king’s table. Now ^lhe was lame in both his feet.

1 For I made up my mind ^unot to make another painful visit to you. 2 For ^vif I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And 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. 4 For ^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

5 Now ^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. 6 For such a one, ^bthis punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so ^cyou should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might ^dtest you and know ^ewhether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone 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, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^fwe are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

12 When ^gI came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^ha door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my 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.

14 But ^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. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^mthose who are being saved and among ⁿthose who are perishing, 16 ^oto one a fragrance from death to death, ^oto the other a fragrance from life to life. ^pWho is sufficient for these things? 17 For 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

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^b“Son of man, ^cmake known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and 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. 4 And 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. 5 No 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!’ 7 ⁱI 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. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^oanointed you with oil. 10 ^pI clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.¹ 11 ^qAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^rput bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus 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. 14 And ^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.

15 ^v“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. 16 You 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 17 You 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. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^aand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^bAlso 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. 20 ^dAnd 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 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And 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), 24 you built yourself ^ha vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At 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. 26 ^wYou also played the whore ^lwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^mmultiplying your whoring, ⁿto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, 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. 28 ^wYou 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. 29 You 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, 31 building 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. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men 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. 34 So 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: 36 Thus 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, 37 therefore, 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. 38 ^cAnd I will judge you ^das women who commit adultery and ^eshed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And 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. 40 ^kThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^land they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^lAnd 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. 42 ^qSo will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because 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.’ 45 You 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. 46 And ^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. 47 ^zNot 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. 48 ^bAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^cSodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, 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. 50 They were haughty and ^edid an abomination before me. So ^fI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^gSamaria 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. 52 ⁱBear 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.

53 ^j“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, 54 that you may bear your disgrace ^kand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^lbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As 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. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ⁿin the day of your pride, 57 before 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. 58 ^rYou 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, 60 yet ^tI will remember my covenant with you ^uin the days of your youth, ^vand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^wThen 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. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^aand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that 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.”

God Who Judges the Earth

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

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to ^xDo Not Destroy. A ^yMiktam⁴ of David, ^zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.