1
The fighting between the forces supporting Saul's family and those supporting David went on for a long time. As David became stronger and stronger, his opponents became weaker and weaker.
2
The following six sons, in order of their birth, were born to David at Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam, from Jezreel;
3
Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel; Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
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Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital;
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Ithream, whose mother was Eglah. All of these sons were born in Hebron.
6
As the fighting continued between David's forces and the forces loyal to Saul's family, Abner became more and more powerful among Saul's followers.
7
One day Ishbosheth son of Saul accused Abner of sleeping with Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah.
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This made Abner furious. "Do you think that I would betray Saul? Do you really think I'm serving Judah?" he exclaimed. "From the very first I have been loyal to the cause of your father Saul, his brothers, and his friends, and I have kept you from being defeated by David; yet today you find fault with me about a woman!
9
The LORD promised David that he would take the kingdom away from Saul and his descendants and would make David king of both Israel and Judah, from one end of the country to the other. Now may God strike me dead if I don't make this come true!"
11
Ishbosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not say a word.
12
Abner sent messengers to David, who at that time was at Hebron, to say, "Who is going to rule this land? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you win all Israel over to your side."
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"Good!" David answered. "I will make an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring Saul's daughter Michal to me when you come to see me."
14
And David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth to say, "Give me back my wife Michal. I paid a hundred Philistine foreskins in order to marry her."
15
So Ishbosheth had her taken from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.
16
Paltiel followed her all the way to the town of Bahurim, crying as he went. But when Abner said, "Go back home," he did.
17
Abner went to the leaders of Israel and said to them, "For a long time you have wanted David to be your king.
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Now here is your chance. Remember that the LORD has said, 'I will use my servant David to rescue my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.' "
19
Abner spoke also to the people of the tribe of Benjamin and then went to Hebron to tell David what the people of Benjamin and of Israel had agreed to do.
20
When Abner came to David at Hebron with twenty men, David gave a feast for them.
21
Abner told David, "I will go now and win all Israel over to Your Majesty. They will accept you as king, and then you will get what you have wanted and will rule over the whole land." David gave Abner a guarantee of safety and sent him on his way.
22
Later on Joab and David's other officials returned from a raid, bringing a large amount of loot with them. Abner, however, was no longer there at Hebron with David, because David had sent him away with a guarantee of safety.
23
When Joab and his men arrived, he was told that Abner had come to King David and had been sent away with a guarantee of safety.
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So Joab went to the king and said to him, "What have you done? Abner came to you---why did you let him go like that?
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He came here to deceive you and to find out everything you do and everywhere you go. Surely you know that!"
26
After leaving David, Joab sent messengers to get Abner, and they brought him back from Sirah Well; but David knew nothing about it.
27
When Abner arrived in Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate, as though he wanted to speak privately with him, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. And so Abner was murdered because he had killed Joab's brother Asahel.
28
When David heard the news, he said, "The LORD knows that my subjects and I are completely innocent of the murder of Abner.
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May the punishment for it fall on Joab and all his family! In every generation may there be some man in his family who has gonorrhea or a dreaded skin disease or is fit only to do a woman's work or is killed in battle or doesn't have enough to eat!"
30
So Joab and his brother Abishai took revenge on Abner for killing their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
31
Then David ordered Joab and his men to tear their clothes, wear sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And at the funeral King David himself walked behind the coffin.
32
Abner was buried at Hebron, and the king wept aloud at the grave, and so did all the people.
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David sang this lament for Abner: "Why did Abner have to die like a fool?
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His hands were not tied, And his feet were not bound; He died like someone killed by criminals!" And the people wept for him again.
35
All day long the people tried to get David to eat something, but he made a solemn promise, "May God strike me dead if I eat anything before the day is over!"
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They took note of this and were pleased. Indeed, everything the king did pleased the people.
37
All of David's people and all the people in Israel understood that the king had no part in the murder of Abner.
38
The king said to his officials, "Don't you realize that this day a great leader in Israel has died?
39
Even though I am the king chosen by God, I feel weak today. These sons of Zeruiah are too violent for me. May the LORD punish these criminals as they deserve!"
1
David was living in Ziklag, where he had gone to escape from King Saul. There he was joined by many experienced, reliable soldiers,
2
members of the tribe of Benjamin, to which Saul belonged. They could shoot arrows and sling stones either right-handed or left-handed.
3
They were under the command of Ahiezer and Joash, sons of Shemaah, from Gibeah. These were the soldiers: Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth Beracah and Jehu from Anathoth Ishmaiah from Gibeon, a famous soldier and one of the leaders of "The Thirty" Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johannan, and Jozabad, from Gederah Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah, from Hariph Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, of the clan of Korah Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham, from Gedor
8
These are the names of the famous, experienced soldiers from the tribe of Gad who joined David's troops when he was at the desert fort. They were experts with shields and spears, as fierce looking as lions and as quick as mountain deer.
9
They were ranked in the following order: Ezer, Obadiah, Eliab, Mishmannah, Jeremiah, Attai, Eliel, Johanan, Elzabad, Jeremiah, and Machbannai.
14
Some of these men from the tribe of Gad were senior officers in command of a thousand men, and others were junior officers in command of a hundred.
15
In the first month of one year, the time when the Jordan River overflowed its banks, they crossed the river, scattering the people who lived in the valleys both east and west of the river.
16
Once a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went out to the fort where David was.
17
David went to meet them and said, "If you are coming as friends to help me, you are welcome here. Join us! But if you intend to betray me to my enemies, even though I have not tried to hurt you, the God of our ancestors will know it and punish you."
18
God's spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of "The Thirty," and he called out, "David son of Jesse, we are yours! Success to you and those who help you! God is on your side." David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.
19
Some soldiers from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David's side when he was marching out with the Philistines to fight King Saul. Actually he did not help the Philistines, for their kings were afraid that he would betray them to his former master Saul, so they sent him back to Ziklag.
20
These are the soldiers from Manasseh who went over to David's side when he was returning: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. In Manasseh they had all commanded units of a thousand men.
21
They served David as officers over his troops, because they were all outstanding soldiers. Later they were officers in the Israelite army.
22
Almost every day new men joined David's forces, so that his army was soon enormous.
23
When David was at Hebron, many trained soldiers joined his army to help make him king in place of Saul, as the LORD had promised. Their numbers were as follows: Judah: 6,800 well-equipped men, armed with shields and spears; Simeon: 7,100 well-trained men; Levi: 4,600 men; Followers of Jehoiada, descendant of Aaron: 3,700 men; Relatives of Zadok, an able young fighter: 22 leading men; Benjamin (Saul's own tribe): 3,000 men (most of the people of Benjamin had remained loyal to Saul); Ephraim: 20,800 men famous in their own clans; West Manasseh: 18,000 men chosen to go and make David king; Issachar: 200 leaders, together with the men under their command (these leaders knew what Israel should do and the best time to do it); Zebulun: 50,000 loyal and reliable men ready to fight, trained to use all kinds of weapons; Naphtali: 1,000 leaders, together with 37,000 men armed with shields and spears; Dan: 28,600 trained men; Asher: 40,000 men ready for battle; Tribes east of the Jordan---Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh: 120,000 men trained to use all kinds of weapons.
38
All these soldiers, ready for battle, went to Hebron, determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the people of Israel were united in the same purpose.
39
They spent three days there with David, feasting on the food and drink which their relatives had prepared for them.
40
From as far away as the northern tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, people came bringing donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen loaded with food---flour, figs, raisins, wine, and olive oil. They also brought cattle and sheep to kill and eat. All this was an expression of the joy that was felt throughout the whole country.
1
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him,
2
"Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!"
3
Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching?
4
For God said, 'Respect your father and your mother,' and 'If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.'
5
But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, 'This belongs to God,'
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they do not need to honor their father. In this way you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
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You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!
8
'These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me.
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It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' "
10
Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand!
11
It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean."
12
Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees had their feelings hurt by what you said?"
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"Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up," answered Jesus.
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"Don't worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch."
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Peter spoke up, "Explain this saying to us."
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Jesus said to them, "You are still no more intelligent than the others.
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Don't you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach and then on out of your body.
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But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make you ritually unclean.
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For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.
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These are the things that make you unclean. But to eat without washing your hands as they say you should---this doesn't make you unclean."
21
Jesus left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon.
22
A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him. "Son of David!" she cried out. "Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a demon and is in a terrible condition."
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But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him, "Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!"
24
Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel."
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At this the woman came and fell at his feet. "Help me, sir!" she said.
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Jesus answered, "It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
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"That's true, sir," she answered, "but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from their masters' table."
28
So Jesus answered her, "You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done for you." And at that very moment her daughter was healed.
29
Jesus left there and went along by Lake Galilee. He climbed a hill and sat down.
30
Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick people, whom they placed at Jesus' feet; and he healed them.
31
The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.
32
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away without feeding them, for they might faint on their way home."
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The disciples asked him, "Where will we find enough food in this desert to feed this crowd?"
34
"How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven loaves," they answered, "and a few small fish."
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So Jesus ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
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Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people.
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They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over.
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The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and children.
39
Then Jesus sent the people away, got into a boat, and went to the territory of Magadan.
