2 Samuel 3-5, 1 Chronicles 12, Psalm 122, Acts 22 - NASB Bible Online

2 Samuel 3-5

The House of David Strengthened

Now ^athere was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.
2 ^aSons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by ^bAhinoam the Jezreelitess; 3 and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the ¹widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of ^aMaacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of ^bGeshur; 4 and the fourth, ^aAdonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.

Abner Joins David

6 It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that ^aAbner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had a concubine whose name was ^aRizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and ¹Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” 8 Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “^aAm I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman. 9 ^aMay God do so to Abner, and more also, if ^bas the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, 10 ^ato transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^bfrom Dan even to Beersheba.” 11 And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him.
12 Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place, saying, “Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.” 13 He said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, ¹namely, ^ayou shall not see my face unless you ^bfirst bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see ²me.” 14 So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed ^afor a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15 Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from ¹Paltiel the son of Laish. 16 But her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her as far as ^aBahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” So he returned.
17 Now Abner had ¹consultation with ^athe elders of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18 Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘^aBy the hand of My servant David ¹I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’” 19 Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to ^athe whole house of Benjamin.
20 Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21 Abner said to David, “Let me arise and go and ^agather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that ^byou may be king over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.
22 And behold, ^athe servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.” 24 Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone? 25 You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of ^ayour going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing.”

Joab Murders Abner

26 When Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know it. 27 So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^ahe struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother. 28 Afterward when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 ^aMay it ¹fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may there not fail from the house of Joab ^bone who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner ^abecause he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner

31 Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “^aTear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier. 32 Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at ^athe grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33 ^aThe king chanted a lament for Abner and said,

“Should Abner die as a fool dies?

“Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;

As one falls before the ¹wicked, you have fallen.”

And all the people wept again over him. 35 Then all the people came ^ato ¹persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, “^bMay God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else ^cbefore the sun goes down.” 36 Now all the people took note of it, and it ¹pleased them, just as everything the king did ²pleased all the people. 37 So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. 38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? 39 I am ^aweak today, though anointed king; and these men ^bthe sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. ^cMay the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil.”

Ish‑bosheth Murdered

Now when ¹Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that ^aAbner had died in Hebron, ²^bhe lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed. 2 Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for ^aBeeroth is also considered ^bpart of Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to ^aGittaim and have been aliens there until this day).
4 Now ^aJonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the ^breport of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was ¹^cMephibosheth.
5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of ^aIsh-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 ¹They came to the middle of the house as ²if to get wheat, and ^athey struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and ¹^atraveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth ^athe son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his ¹descendants.”
9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, ^awho has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 ^awhen one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and ¹thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now ^arequire his blood from your hand and ¹destroy you from the earth?” 12 Then ^aDavid commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth ^band buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

David King over All Israel

^aThen all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and ¹said, “Behold, we are ^byour bone and your flesh. 2 Previously, when Saul was king over us, ^ayou were the one who led Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, ‘^bYou will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ^ca ruler over Israel.’” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David ^amade a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron; then ^bthey anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was ^athirty years old when he became king, and ^bhe reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron ^ahe reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
6 ^aNow the king and his men went to ^bJerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to ¹David, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away”; ²thinking, “David cannot enter here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is ^athe city of David. 8 David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul, through the water tunnel.” Therefore they say, “The blind or the lame shall not come into the house.” 9 So David lived in the stronghold and called it ^athe city of David. And David built all around from the ¹^bMillo and inward. 10 ^aDavid became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him.
11 ^aThen Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees and carpenters and stonemasons; and ^bthey built a house for David. 12 And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.
13 Meanwhile ^aDavid took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14 Now ^athese are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

War with the Philistines

17 When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, ^aall the Philistines went up to seek out David; and when David heard of it, he went down to the ^bstronghold. 18 Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in ^athe valley of Rephaim. 19 Then ^aDavid inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?” And ^bthe Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20 So David came to ^aBaal-perazim and ¹defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place ²Baal-perazim. 21 They abandoned their idols there, so ^aDavid and his men carried them away.
22 Now ^athe Philistines came up once again and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim. 23 When ^aDavid inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the ¹balsam trees. 24 It shall be, when ^ayou hear the sound of marching in the tops of the ¹balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then ^bthe Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” 25 Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from ¹^aGeba ²as far as ^bGezer.

1 Chronicles 12

David’s Supporters in Ziklag

^aNow these are the ones who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. 2 They were equipped with bows, ^ausing both the right hand and the left to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow; ^bthey were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin. 3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite, 4 and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty. ¹Then Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite, 5 ¹Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, 6 Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, the Korahites, 7 and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
8 From the Gadites there ¹came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and ^athey were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains. 9 Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, 10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, 11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. 14 These of the sons of Gad were ¹captains of the army; ^ahe who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand. 15 ^aThese are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.
16 Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17 David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no ¹wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.” 18 Then ^athe Spirit ¹came upon ^bAmasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said,

“We are yours, O David,

And with you, O son of Jesse!

^cPeace, peace to you,

And peace to him who helps you;

Indeed, your God helps you!”

Then David received them and made them ²captains of the band.
19 ^aFrom Manasseh also some defected to David when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. But they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.” 20 As he went to Ziklag there defected to him from Manasseh: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, ¹captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. 21 They helped David against ^athe band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army. 22 For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army ^alike the army of God.

Supporters Gathered at Hebron

23 Now these are the numbers of the ¹divisions equipped for war, ^awho came to David at Hebron, ^bto turn the kingdom of Saul to him, ^caccording to the ²word of the Lord. 24 The sons of Judah who bore shield and spear were 6,800, equipped for war. 25 Of the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100. 26 Of the sons of Levi 4,600. 27 Now Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were 3,700, 28 also ^aZadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father’s house twenty-two captains. 29 Of the sons of Benjamin, ^aSaul’s kinsmen, 3,000; for until now ^bthe greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. 30 Of the sons of Ephraim 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ households. 31 Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were designated by name to come and make David king. 32 Of the sons of Issachar, ^amen who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command. 33 Of Zebulun, there were 50,000 who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David ¹with ^aan undivided heart. 34 Of Naphtali there were 1,000 captains, and with them 37,000 with shield and spear. 35 Of the Danites who could draw up in battle formation, there were 28,600. 36 Of Asher there were 40,000 who went out in the army to draw up in battle formation. 37 From the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites and the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.
38 All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with ^aa perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king. 39 They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them. 40 Moreover those who were near to them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, ^abrought food on donkeys, camels, mules and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel.

Psalm 122

Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us ^ago to the house of the Lord.”

Our feet are standing

Within your ^agates, O Jerusalem,

Jerusalem, that is ^abuilt

As a city that is ^bcompact together;

To which the tribes ^ago up, even the tribes of ¹the Lord⁠—

²An ordinance for Israel⁠—

To give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For there ^athrones were set for judgment,

The thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the ^apeace of Jerusalem:

“May they prosper who ^blove you.

“May peace be within your ^awalls,

And prosperity within your ^bpalaces.”

For the sake of my ^abrothers and my friends,

I will now say, “^bMay peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will ^aseek your good.

Acts 22

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

“^aBrethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ¹^aHebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,
3 “^aI am ^ba Jew, born in ^cTarsus of ^dCilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ¹under ^eGamaliel, ²^fstrictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^gyou all are today. 4 ^aI persecuted this ^bWay to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, 5 as also ^athe high priest and all ^bthe Council of the elders ¹can testify. From them I also ^creceived letters to ^dthe brethren, and started off for ^cDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ²as prisoners to be punished.
6 “^aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me ^asaw the light, to be sure, but ^bdid not ¹understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘^aWhat shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I ^acould not see because of the ¹brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “A certain ^aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and ^bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘^aBrother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ¹^bat that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘^aThe God of our fathers has ^bappointed you to know His will and to ^csee the ^dRighteous One and to hear an ¹utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be ^aa witness for Him to all men of ^bwhat you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? ^aGet up and be baptized, and ^bwash away your sins, ^ccalling on His name.’
17 “It happened when I ^areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^bfell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^aMake haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^aI used to imprison and ^bbeat those who believed in You. 20 And ^awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^ato the Gentiles.’”
22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^aAway with such a fellow from the earth, for ^bhe should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and ^athrowing off their cloaks and ^btossing dust into the air, 24 the ¹commander ordered him to be brought into ^athe barracks, stating that he should be ^bexamined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out ¹with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ²lawful for you to scourge ^aa man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the ¹commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 The ¹commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The ¹commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” 29 Therefore those who were about to ^aexamine him immediately ¹let go of him; and the ²commander also ^bwas afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ³^cput him in chains.
30 But on the next day, ^awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^breleased him and ordered the chief priests and all ^cthe ¹Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

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