# verses

text:
There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, <f>ⓜ</f>in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.


text:
So Joshua took the whole land, <f>ⓝ</f>according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. <f>ⓞ</f>And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel <f>ⓟ</f>according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.


text:
<pb/>Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from <f>ⓐ</f>the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all <f>ⓑ</f>the Arabah eastward:


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and <f>ⓓ</f>from the middle of the valley as far as the <f>ⓔ</f>river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead,


text:
and <f>ⓕ</f>the Arabah <f>ⓖ</f>to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of <f>ⓗ</f>the slopes of Pisgah;


text:
and <f>ⓘ</f>Og <f>[1]</f> king of Bashan, one of the remnant of <f>ⓙ</f>the Rephaim, <f>ⓚ</f>who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei


text:
and ruled over <f>ⓛ</f>Mount Hermon and <f>ⓜ</f>Salecah and all Bashan <f>ⓝ</f>to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon.


text:
<f>ⓞ</f> Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the LORD <f>ⓟ</f>gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.


text:
<pb/>And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to <f>ⓠ</f>Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession <f>ⓡ</f>according to their allotments,


text:
<f>ⓢ</f> in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of <f>ⓣ</f>the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites):


text:
<pb/>Now Joshua <f>ⓐ</f>was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land <f>ⓑ</f>to possess.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> This is the land that yet remains: all the <f>ⓓ</f>regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites


text:
(from the <f>ⓔ</f>Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; <f>ⓕ</f>there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of <f>ⓖ</f>the Avvim,


text:
in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of <f>ⓗ</f>the Amorites,


text:
and the land of the <f>ⓘ</f>Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from <f>ⓙ</f>Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to <f>ⓚ</f>Lebo-hamath,


text:
all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to <f>ⓛ</f>Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I myself will drive <f>ⓜ</f>them out from before the people of Israel. Only <f>ⓝ</f>allot the land to Israel <f>ⓞ</f>for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.


text:
Now therefore <f>ⓟ</f>divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”


text:
<pb/>With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh <f>[1]</f> the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, <f>ⓠ</f>which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and <f>ⓢ</f>all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon;


text:
<f>ⓣ</f> and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites;


text:
and Gilead, and the <f>ⓤ</f>region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and <f>ⓥ</f>all Bashan to Salecah;


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of <f>ⓧ</f>the remnant of the Rephaim); <f>ⓨ</f>these Moses had struck and driven out.


text:
<f>ⓩ</f> Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.


text:
So their territory was from Aroer, <f>ⓑ</f>which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by <f>ⓒ</f>Medeba;


text:
with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; <f>ⓓ</f>Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon,


text:
that is, <f>ⓚ</f>all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, <f>ⓛ</f>whom Moses defeated with <f>ⓜ</f>the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain.


text:
And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the people of Reuben, according to their clans with their cities and villages.


text:
<pb/>Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of Gad, to the people of Gad, according to their clans.


text:
<f>ⓞ</f> Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of <f>ⓟ</f>Rabbah,


text:
and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from <f>ⓠ</f>Mahanaim to the territory of Debir, <f>[2]</f>


text:
and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, <f>ⓡ</f>Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of <f>ⓢ</f>Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan.


text:
This is the inheritance of the people of Gad according to their clans, with their cities and villages.


text:
<pb/>And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the people of Manasseh according to their clans.


text:
Their region extended from <f>ⓣ</f>Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all <f>ⓤ</f>the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities,


text:
and half Gilead, and <f>ⓥ</f>Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of <f>ⓦ</f>Machir the son of Manasseh for the half of the people of Machir according to their clans.


text:
<pb/>These are the inheritances that Moses distributed <f>ⓧ</f>in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.


text:
<f>ⓨ</f> But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, <f>ⓩ</f>just as he said to them.


text:
<pb/>These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which <f>ⓐ</f>Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.


text:
Their inheritance was <f>ⓑ</f>by lot, just as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, <f>ⓓ</f>but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.


text:
For <f>ⓔ</f>the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance.


text:
<pb/>Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the <f>ⓖ</f>Kenizzite said to him, “You know <f>ⓗ</f>what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.


text:
I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD <f>ⓘ</f>sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.


text:
But <f>ⓙ</f>my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.


text:
And Moses swore on that day, saying, <f>ⓚ</f>‘Surely the land <f>ⓛ</f>on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’


text:
And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, <f>ⓜ</f>just as he said, these <f>ⓝ</f>forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day <f>ⓞ</f>eighty-five years old.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and <f>ⓠ</f>for going and coming.


text:
So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the <f>ⓡ</f>Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”


text:
<pb/>Then Joshua <f>ⓢ</f>blessed him, and he gave <f>ⓣ</f>Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.


text:
Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, <f>ⓤ</f>because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
<f>ⓥ</f> Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. <f>[1]</f> (Arba <f>[2]</f> was the greatest man among the Anakim.) <f>ⓦ</f>And the land had rest from war.


text:
<pb/>The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward <f>ⓐ</f>to the boundary of Edom, to <f>ⓑ</f>the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.


text:
And their south boundary ran from the end of the <f>ⓒ</f>Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward.


text:
It goes out southward of <f>ⓓ</f>the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka,


text:
passes along to Azmon, goes out by <f>ⓔ</f>the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.


text:
And the east boundary is the <f>ⓕ</f>Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.


text:
And the boundary goes up to <f>ⓖ</f>Beth-hoglah and passes along north of <f>ⓗ</f>Beth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to <f>ⓘ</f>the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.


text:
And the boundary goes up to Debir from <f>ⓙ</f>the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite <f>ⓚ</f>the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of <f>ⓛ</f>En-shemesh and ends at <f>ⓜ</f>En-rogel.


text:
Then the boundary goes up by <f>ⓝ</f>the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (<f>ⓞ</f>that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley <f>ⓟ</f>of Rephaim.


text:
Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain <f>ⓠ</f>to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah (<f>ⓡ</f>that is, Kiriath-jearim).


text:
And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to <f>ⓢ</f>Beth-shemesh and passes along by <f>ⓣ</f>Timnah.


text:
The boundary goes out <f>ⓤ</f>to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount <f>ⓥ</f>Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.


text:
And the west boundary was <f>ⓦ</f>the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans.


text:
<pb/>According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, <f>ⓧ</f>Kiriath-arba, that is, <f>ⓨ</f>Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).


text:
And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, <f>ⓩ</f>Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.


text:
And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. <f>ⓐ</f>Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.


text:
And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.”


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> And Othniel the son of Kenaz, <f>ⓒ</f>the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.


text:
When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”


text:
She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.


text:
The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, <f>ⓓ</f>Eder, Jagur,


text:
<pb/><f>ⓢ</f> Ashdod, its towns and its villages; <f>ⓣ</f>Gaza, its towns and its villages; to <f>ⓤ</f>the Brook of Egypt, and <f>ⓥ</f>the Great Sea with its coastline.


text:
<pb/>But the <f>ⓘ</f>Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, <f>ⓙ</f>the people of Judah could not drive out, <f>ⓚ</f>so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.


text:
<pb/>The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, <f>ⓐ</f>into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel.


text:
Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower <f>ⓒ</f>Beth-horon, then to <f>ⓓ</f>Gezer, and it ends at the sea.


text:
<pb/>The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was <f>ⓕ</f>Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon,


text:
and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is <f>ⓖ</f>Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah,


text:
then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and <f>ⓗ</f>to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.


text:
From <f>ⓘ</f>Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans,


text:
together with <f>ⓙ</f>the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages.


text:
However, <f>ⓚ</f>they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made <f>ⓛ</f>to do forced labor.


text:
<pb/>Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was <f>ⓐ</f>the firstborn of Joseph. To <f>ⓑ</f>Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, <f>ⓒ</f>were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.


text:
And allotments were made <f>ⓓ</f>to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓔ</f>Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: <f>ⓕ</f>Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


text:
They approached <f>ⓖ</f>Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, <f>ⓗ</f>“The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.


text:
Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides <f>ⓘ</f>the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan,


text:
because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh.


text:
<pb/>The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to <f>ⓙ</f>Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.


text:
The land of <f>ⓚ</f>Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea,


text:
the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar.


text:
Also in Issachar and in Asher <f>ⓜ</f>Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of <f>ⓝ</f>Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of <f>ⓞ</f>Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of <f>ⓟ</f>Megiddo and its villages; <f>ⓠ</f>the third is Naphath. <f>[1]</f>


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.


text:
Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites <f>ⓢ</f>to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.


text:
<pb/>Then <f>ⓣ</f>the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but <f>ⓤ</f>one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am <f>ⓥ</f>a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?”


text:
And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and <f>ⓦ</f>the Rephaim, since <f>ⓧ</f>the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”


text:
The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have <f>ⓨ</f>chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in <f>ⓩ</f>the Valley of Jezreel.”


text:
Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only,


text:
but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, <f>ⓐ</f>though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”


text:
<pb/>Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at <f>ⓐ</f>Shiloh and set up <f>ⓑ</f>the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.


text:
<pb/>There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned.


text:
So Joshua said to the people of Israel, <f>ⓒ</f>“How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?


text:
Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me.


text:
They shall divide it into seven portions. <f>ⓓ</f>Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, <f>ⓔ</f>and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north.


text:
And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. <f>ⓕ</f>And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage. <f>ⓗ</f>And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”


text:
<pb/>So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”


text:
So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh,


text:
and Joshua <f>ⓘ</f>cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, <f>ⓙ</f>to each his portion.


text:
<pb/>The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. <f>ⓛ</f>Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of <f>ⓜ</f>Beth-aven.


text:
From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of <f>ⓝ</f>Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to <f>ⓞ</f>Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower <f>ⓟ</f>Beth-horon.


text:
Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the <f>ⓠ</f>western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (<f>ⓡ</f>that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side.


text:
And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron, <f>[1]</f> <f>ⓢ</f>to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.


text:
Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks <f>ⓣ</f>the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of <f>ⓤ</f>Rephaim. And it then goes down the <f>ⓥ</f>Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to <f>ⓦ</f>En-rogel.


text:
Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to <f>ⓧ</f>the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,


text:
and passing on to the north of <f>ⓨ</f>the shoulder of Beth-arabah <f>[2]</f> it goes down to <f>ⓩ</f>the Arabah.


text:
Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of <f>ⓐ</f>Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of <f>ⓑ</f>the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.


text:
The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around.


text:
<pb/>Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were <f>ⓒ</f>Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,


text:
Zela, Haeleph, <f>ⓓ</f>Jebus <f>[3]</f> (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah <f>[4]</f> and Kiriath-jearim <f>[5]</f> — fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.


text:
<pb/>The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, <f>ⓐ</f>and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.


text:
together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.


text:
<pb/>The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid.


text:
Then their boundary goes up <f>ⓓ</f>westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of <f>ⓔ</f>Jokneam.


text:
From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia.


text:
From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah,


text:
This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans — these cities with their villages.


text:
The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan — sixteen cities with their villages.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans — the cities with their villages.


text:
then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to <f>ⓘ</f>Cabul,


text:
Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, <f>[1]</f> Achzib,


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans — these cities with their villages.


text:
<pb/>The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.


text:
And their boundary ran from Heleph, from <f>ⓚ</f>the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.


text:
Then the boundary turns <f>ⓛ</f>westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans — the cities with their villages.


text:
When <f>ⓡ</f>the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans — these cities with their villages.


text:
<pb/>When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.


text:
By command of the LORD they gave him the city that he asked, <f>ⓢ</f>Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot <f>ⓤ</f>at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.


text:
“Say to the people of Israel, <f>ⓐ</f>‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,


text:
that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.


text:
He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand <f>ⓑ</f>at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.


text:
And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past.


text:
And he shall remain in that city <f>ⓒ</f>until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”


text:
<pb/>So they set apart <f>ⓓ</f>Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and <f>ⓔ</f>Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and <f>ⓕ</f>Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) <f>ⓖ</f>in the hill country of Judah.


text:
And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed <f>ⓗ</f>Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and <f>ⓘ</f>Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and <f>ⓙ</f>Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.


text:
These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and <f>ⓚ</f>for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.


text:
<pb/>Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came <f>ⓐ</f>to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.


text:
And they said to them <f>ⓑ</f>at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, <f>ⓒ</f>“The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”


text:
So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.


text:
<pb/>The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest <f>ⓓ</f>received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.


text:
<pb/>And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot <f>ⓔ</f>from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.


text:
<pb/>The <f>ⓕ</f>Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.


text:
<pb/>The <f>ⓖ</f>Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.


text:
<pb/>These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel <f>ⓗ</f>gave by lot to the Levites, <f>ⓘ</f>as the LORD had commanded through Moses.


text:
<pb/>Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name,


text:
which went to <f>ⓙ</f>the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> They gave them <f>ⓛ</f>Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, <f>ⓜ</f>in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.


text:
But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.


text:
<pb/>And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, <f>ⓝ</f>the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, <f>ⓞ</f>Libnah with its pasturelands,


text:
Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands — nine cities out of these two tribes;


text:
then out of the tribe of Benjamin, <f>ⓟ</f>Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,


text:
The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓠ</f> As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim.


text:
To them were given Shechem, <f>ⓡ</f>the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,


text:
and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands — two cities.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓢ</f> And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, <f>ⓣ</f>the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands — two cities;


text:
and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, <f>ⓤ</f>the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands — three cities.


text:
The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓥ</f> And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,


text:
and out of the tribe of Gad, <f>ⓧ</f>Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, <f>ⓨ</f>Mahanaim with its pasturelands,


text:
As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓑ</f> Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. <f>ⓓ</f>Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for <f>ⓔ</f>the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.


text:
and said to them, “You have kept <f>ⓐ</f>all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you <f>ⓑ</f>and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.


text:
You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, <f>ⓓ</f>which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.


text:
<f>ⓔ</f> Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, <f>ⓕ</f>to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”


text:
<pb/>Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, <f>ⓗ</f>but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them,


text:
he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. <f>ⓘ</f>Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”


text:
So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go <f>ⓙ</f>to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the LORD through Moses.


text:
<pb/>And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.


text:
And the people of Israel <f>ⓚ</f>heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”


text:
And when the people of Israel heard of it, <f>ⓛ</f>the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.


text:
<pb/>Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, <f>ⓜ</f>Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,


text:
and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, <f>ⓝ</f>every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.


text:
And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,


text:
“Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day <f>ⓞ</f>in rebellion against the LORD?


text:
Have we not had enough of <f>ⓟ</f>the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,


text:
that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if <f>ⓠ</f>you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow <f>ⓡ</f>he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.


text:
But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD's land <f>ⓢ</f>where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. <f>ⓣ</f>Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.


text:
<f>ⓤ</f> Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and <f>ⓥ</f>wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”


text:
<pb/>Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,


text:
“The Mighty One, <f>ⓦ</f>God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! <f>ⓧ</f>He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today


text:
for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself <f>ⓨ</f>take vengeance.


text:
No, but we did it from fear that <f>ⓩ</f>in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?


text:
For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD.


text:
but to be <f>ⓐ</f>a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we <f>ⓑ</f>do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.”’


text:
And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be <f>ⓒ</f>a witness between us and you.”’


text:
Far be it from us that we should <f>ⓓ</f>rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD <f>ⓔ</f>by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”


text:
<pb/>When <f>ⓕ</f>Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, <f>ⓖ</f>it was good in their eyes.


text:
And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that <f>ⓗ</f>the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”


text:
<pb/>Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad <f>ⓘ</f>in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.


text:
And the report <f>ⓙ</f>was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel <f>ⓚ</f>blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.


text:
The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, <f>ⓛ</f>“it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”


text:
<pb/>A long time afterward, when the LORD had given <f>ⓐ</f>rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua <f>ⓑ</f>was old and well advanced in years,


text:
Joshua <f>ⓒ</f>summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.


text:
And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, <f>ⓓ</f>for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.


text:
Behold, <f>ⓔ</f>I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west.


text:
The LORD your God <f>ⓕ</f>will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, <f>ⓖ</f>just as the LORD your God promised you.


text:
Therefore, <f>ⓗ</f>be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, <f>ⓘ</f>turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left,


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you <f>ⓚ</f>or make mention of the names of their gods <f>ⓛ</f>or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, <f>ⓞ</f>no man has been able to stand before you to this day.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God <f>ⓠ</f>who fights for you, just as he promised you.


text:
For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you <f>ⓢ</f>and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,


text:
know for certain that <f>ⓣ</f>the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, <f>ⓤ</f>but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.


text:
<pb/>“And now <f>ⓥ</f>I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that <f>ⓦ</f>not one word has failed of all the good things <f>[1]</f> that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.


text:
But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you <f>ⓧ</f>all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you,


text:
if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”


text:
<pb/>Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel <f>ⓐ</f>to Shechem and <f>ⓑ</f>summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And <f>ⓒ</f>they presented themselves before God.


text:
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, <f>ⓓ</f>your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, <f>[1]</f> Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and <f>ⓔ</f>they served other gods.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River <f>[2]</f> and <f>ⓖ</f>led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. <f>ⓗ</f>I gave him Isaac.


text:
And to Isaac I gave <f>ⓘ</f>Jacob and Esau. <f>ⓙ</f>And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, <f>ⓚ</f>but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> And I sent Moses and Aaron, <f>ⓜ</f>and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and <f>ⓝ</f>afterward I brought you out.


text:
<pb/>“‘Then <f>ⓞ</f>I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and <f>ⓟ</f>you came to the sea. <f>ⓠ</f>And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> And when they cried to the LORD, <f>ⓢ</f>he put darkness between you and the Egyptians <f>ⓣ</f>and made the sea come upon them and cover them; <f>ⓤ</f>and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. <f>ⓥ</f>And you lived in the wilderness a long time.


text:
Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. <f>ⓦ</f>They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. <f>ⓨ</f>And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,


text:
<f>ⓩ</f> but I would not listen to Balaam. <f>ⓐ</f>Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand.


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, <f>ⓒ</f>and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also <f>ⓓ</f>the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.


text:
And I sent <f>ⓔ</f>the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was <f>ⓕ</f>not by your sword or by your bow.


text:
I gave you a land on which you had not labored <f>ⓖ</f>and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’


text:
<pb/><f>ⓗ</f> “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. <f>ⓘ</f>Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, <f>ⓚ</f>choose this day whom you will serve, whether <f>ⓛ</f>the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or <f>ⓜ</f>the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. <f>ⓝ</f>But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”


text:
<pb/>Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods,


text:
for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.


text:
And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”


text:
<pb/>But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is <f>ⓞ</f>a holy God. He is <f>ⓟ</f>a jealous God; <f>ⓠ</f>he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then <f>ⓢ</f>he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”


text:
Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that <f>ⓣ</f>you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”


text:
He said, “Then <f>ⓤ</f>put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”


text:
So Joshua <f>ⓥ</f>made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place <f>ⓦ</f>statutes and rules for them at Shechem.


text:
And Joshua <f>ⓧ</f>wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And <f>ⓨ</f>he took a large stone and set it up there <f>ⓩ</f>under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.


text:
And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, <f>ⓐ</f>this stone shall be a witness against us, for <f>ⓑ</f>it has heard all the words of the LORD that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓓ</f> After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old.


text:
And they buried him in his own inheritance at <f>ⓔ</f>Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓕ</f> Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua <f>ⓖ</f>and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓗ</f> As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land <f>ⓘ</f>that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. <f>[3]</f> It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.


text:
<pb/>And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of <f>ⓙ</f>Phinehas his son, which had been given him in <f>ⓚ</f>the hill country of Ephraim.


text:
<pb/>After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel <f>ⓐ</f>inquired of the LORD, <f>ⓑ</f>“Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”


text:
And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. <f>ⓒ</f>And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.


text:
Then Judah went up and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek.


text:
They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.


text:
And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off <f>ⓓ</f>used to pick up scraps under my table. <f>ⓔ</f>As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓕ</f> And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.


text:
And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in <f>ⓖ</f>the hill country, in the Negeb, and in <f>ⓗ</f>the lowland.


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron <f>ⓙ</f>(now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated <f>ⓚ</f>Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.


text:
<pb/>From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.


text:
And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.”


text:
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, <f>ⓛ</f>Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.


text:
When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”


text:
She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.


text:
<pb/>And the descendants of the <f>ⓜ</f>Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah <f>ⓝ</f>from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near <f>ⓞ</f>Arad, <f>ⓟ</f>and they went and settled with the people.


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called <f>ⓡ</f>Hormah. <f>[1]</f>


text:
Judah also <f>ⓢ</f>captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.


text:
<f>ⓣ</f> And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the <f>ⓤ</f>hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had <f>ⓥ</f>chariots of iron.


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it <f>ⓧ</f>the three sons of Anak.


text:
But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, <f>ⓨ</f>so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


text:
And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, <f>ⓑ</f>and we will deal kindly with you.”


text:
And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.


text:
And the man went to <f>ⓒ</f>the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓓ</f> Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.


text:
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓔ</f> And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.


text:
<pb/>Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of <f>ⓕ</f>Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓖ</f> Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,


text:
so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.


text:
<pb/>Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of <f>ⓗ</f>Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓘ</f> The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.


text:
The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, <f>ⓙ</f>in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.


text:
<pb/>Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to <f>ⓐ</f>Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, <f>ⓑ</f>‘I will never break my covenant with you,


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; <f>ⓓ</f>you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?


text:
So now I say, <f>ⓔ</f>I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become <f>ⓕ</f>thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”


text:
As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.


text:
<pb/>When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel.


text:
And they buried him within the boundaries of <f>ⓗ</f>his inheritance in Timnath-heres, <f>ⓘ</f>in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.


text:
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓙ</f> And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. <f>ⓛ</f>They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and <f>ⓜ</f>bowed down to them. <f>ⓝ</f>And they provoked the LORD to anger.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he <f>ⓠ</f>gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. <f>ⓡ</f>And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, <f>ⓢ</f>so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.


text:
Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, <f>ⓣ</f>and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓤ</f> Then the LORD raised up judges, <f>ⓥ</f>who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.


text:
Yet they did not listen to their judges, for <f>ⓦ</f>they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. <f>ⓧ</f>They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so.


text:
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, <f>ⓨ</f>the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. <f>ⓩ</f>For the LORD was moved to pity by <f>ⓐ</f>their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.


text:
But <f>ⓑ</f>whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people <f>ⓓ</f>have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice,


text:
in order <f>ⓕ</f>to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.”


text:
So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan.


text:
It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.


text:
These are the nations: <f>ⓑ</f>the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.


text:
They were for <f>ⓒ</f>the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.


text:
So the people of Israel lived <f>ⓓ</f>among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.


text:
<f>ⓔ</f> And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓕ</f> And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and <f>ⓖ</f>the Asheroth.


text:
Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, <f>ⓗ</f>and he sold them into the hand of <f>ⓘ</f>Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.


text:
But when the people of Israel <f>ⓙ</f>cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a <f>ⓚ</f>deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, <f>ⓛ</f>Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.


text:
<f>ⓜ</f> The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓞ</f> And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon <f>ⓟ</f>the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.


text:
He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the <f>ⓠ</f>Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of <f>ⓡ</f>the city of palms.


text:
<pb/>Then the people of Israel <f>ⓢ</f>cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them <f>ⓣ</f>a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, <f>ⓤ</f>a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.


text:
And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit <f>[1]</f> in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.


text:
But he himself turned back <f>ⓥ</f>at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence.


text:
And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his <f>ⓦ</f>cool roof chamber. <f>ⓧ</f>And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat.


text:
And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.


text:
And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out.


text:
Then Ehud went out into the porch <f>[2]</f> and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him <f>ⓨ</f>and locked them.


text:
<pb/>When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, <f>ⓩ</f>“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.”


text:
And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.


text:
When he arrived, <f>ⓑ</f>he sounded the trumpet in <f>ⓒ</f>the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader.


text:
And he said to them, “Follow after me, <f>ⓓ</f>for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized <f>ⓔ</f>the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over.


text:
And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.


text:
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. <f>ⓕ</f>And the land had rest for eighty years.


text:
<pb/>After him was <f>ⓖ</f>Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines <f>ⓗ</f>with an oxgoad, and he also <f>ⓘ</f>saved Israel.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died.


text:
And the LORD <f>ⓑ</f>sold them into the hand of <f>ⓒ</f>Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in <f>ⓓ</f>Hazor. The commander of his army was <f>ⓔ</f>Sisera, who lived in <f>ⓕ</f>Harosheth-hagoyim.


text:
Then the people of Israel <f>ⓖ</f>cried out to the LORD for help, for he had <f>ⓗ</f>900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.


text:
She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in <f>ⓘ</f>the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.


text:
She sent and summoned <f>ⓙ</f>Barak the son of Abinoam from <f>ⓚ</f>Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount <f>ⓛ</f>Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.


text:
And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by <f>ⓜ</f>the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, <f>ⓝ</f>and I will give him into your hand’?”


text:
Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”


text:
And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will <f>ⓞ</f>sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.


text:
And Barak called out <f>ⓟ</f>Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.


text:
<pb/>Now Heber <f>ⓠ</f>the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of <f>ⓡ</f>Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in <f>ⓢ</f>Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.


text:
Sisera called out all his chariots, <f>ⓣ</f>900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.


text:
And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which <f>ⓤ</f>the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. <f>ⓥ</f>Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.


text:
And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.


text:
<pb/>But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.


text:
And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.


text:
And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened <f>ⓧ</f>a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.


text:
And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”


text:
But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.


text:
And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.


text:
And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.


text:
<pb/><t>“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, </t><t>that <f>ⓑ</f>the people offered themselves willingly, </t><t>bless the LORD! </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; </t><t>to the LORD I will sing; </t><t>I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“LORD, <f>ⓒ</f>when you went out from Seir, </t><t>when you marched from the region of Edom, </t><t><f>ⓓ</f>the earth trembled </t><t>and the heavens dropped, </t><t>yes, the clouds dropped water.</t>


text:
<t>The mountains <f>ⓔ</f>quaked before the LORD, </t><t><f>ⓕ</f>even Sinai before the LORD, <f>[1]</f> the God of Israel. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“In the days of <f>ⓖ</f>Shamgar, son of Anath, </t><t>in the days of <f>ⓗ</f>Jael, <f>ⓘ</f>the highways were abandoned, </t><t>and travelers kept to the byways.</t>


text:
<t>The villagers ceased in Israel; </t><t>they ceased to be until I arose; </t><t>I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓙ</f> When new gods were chosen, </t><t>then war was in the gates. </t><t><f>ⓚ</f>Was shield or spear to be seen </t><t>among forty thousand in Israel?</t>


text:
<t>My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel </t><t>who <f>ⓛ</f>offered themselves willingly among the people. </t><t>Bless the LORD. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Tell of it, <f>ⓜ</f>you who ride on white donkeys, </t><t>you who sit on rich carpets <f>[2]</f> </t><t>and you who walk by the way.</t>


text:
<t>To the sound of musicians <f>[3]</f> at the watering places, </t><t>there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD, </t><t>the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. </t> <pb/><t>“Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓝ</f> “Awake, awake, Deborah! </t><t>Awake, awake, break out in a song! </t><t>Arise, Barak, <f>ⓞ</f>lead away your captives, </t><t>O son of Abinoam.</t>


text:
<t>Then down marched the remnant of the noble; </t><t>the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.</t>


text:
<t>From <f>ⓟ</f>Ephraim their root <f>ⓠ</f>they marched down into the valley, <f>[4]</f> </t><t>following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; </t><t>from <f>ⓡ</f>Machir marched down the commanders, </t><t>and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's <f>[5]</f> staff;</t>


text:
<t>the princes of Issachar came with Deborah, </t><t>and Issachar faithful to <f>ⓢ</f>Barak; </t><t>into the valley they rushed at his heels. </t><t>Among the clans of Reuben </t><t>there were great searchings of heart.</t>


text:
<t>Why did you sit still <f>ⓣ</f>among the sheepfolds, </t><t>to hear the whistling for the flocks? </t><t>Among the clans of Reuben </t><t>there were great searchings of heart.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓤ</f> Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; </t><t><f>ⓥ</f>and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? </t><t><f>ⓦ</f>Asher sat still <f>ⓧ</f>at the coast of the sea, </t><t>staying by his landings.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓨ</f> Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; </t><t><f>ⓩ</f>Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“The kings came, they fought; </t><t>then fought the kings of Canaan, </t><t>at <f>ⓐ</f>Taanach, by the waters of <f>ⓑ</f>Megiddo; </t><t><f>ⓒ</f>they got no spoils of silver.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓔ</f> The torrent Kishon swept them away, </t><t>the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. </t><t>March on, my soul, with might! </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, </t><t>curse its inhabitants thoroughly, </t><t><f>ⓕ</f>because they did not come to the help of the LORD, </t><t>to the help of the LORD against the mighty. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Most blessed of women be <f>ⓖ</f>Jael, </t><t>the wife of Heber the Kenite, </t><t>of tent-dwelling women most blessed.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓗ</f> He asked for water and she gave him milk; </t><t>she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓘ</f> She sent her hand to the tent peg </t><t>and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; </t><t>she struck Sisera; </t><t>she crushed his head; </t><t>she shattered and pierced his temple.</t>


text:
<t>Between her feet </t><t>he sank, he fell, he lay still; </t><t>between her feet </t><t>he sank, he fell; </t><t>where he sank, </t><t>there he fell — dead. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓙ</f> “Out of the window she peered, </t><t>the mother of Sisera wailed through <f>ⓚ</f>the lattice: </t><t>‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? </t><t>Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’</t>


text:
<t>‘Have they not found and <f>ⓛ</f>divided the spoil? — </t><t>A womb or two for every man; </t><t>spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, </t><t>spoil of dyed materials embroidered, </t><t>two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’ </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓜ</f> “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! </t><t>But your friends be <f>ⓝ</f>like the sun <f>ⓞ</f>as he rises in his might.” </t> <pb/><f>ⓟ</f>And the land had rest for forty years.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of <f>ⓑ</f>Midian seven years.


text:
And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and <f>ⓒ</f>the caves and the strongholds.


text:
For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and <f>ⓓ</f>the Amalekites and <f>ⓔ</f>the people of the East would come up against them.


text:
They would encamp against them <f>ⓕ</f>and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey.


text:
For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come <f>ⓖ</f>like locusts in number — both they and their camels could not be counted — so that they laid waste the land as they came in.


text:
And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel <f>ⓗ</f>cried out for help to the LORD.


text:
the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: <f>ⓘ</f>I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.


text:
And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and <f>ⓙ</f>drove them out before you and gave you their land.


text:
And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; <f>ⓚ</f>you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”


text:
<pb/>Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash <f>ⓛ</f>the Abiezrite, while his son <f>ⓜ</f>Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.


text:
And <f>ⓝ</f>the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, <f>ⓞ</f>“The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”


text:
And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are <f>ⓟ</f>all his wonderful deeds <f>ⓠ</f>that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”


text:
And the LORD <f>[1]</f> turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; <f>ⓡ</f>do not I send you?”


text:
And he said to him, <f>ⓢ</f>“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, <f>ⓣ</f>my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”


text:
And the LORD said to him, <f>ⓤ</f>“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”


text:
And he said to him, <f>ⓥ</f>“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then <f>ⓦ</f>show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.


text:
Please <f>ⓧ</f>do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”


text:
<pb/>So Gideon went into his house <f>ⓨ</f>and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah <f>[2]</f> of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.


text:
And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them <f>ⓩ</f>on this rock, and <f>ⓐ</f>pour the broth over them.” And he did so.


text:
Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. <f>ⓑ</f>And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.


text:
Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, <f>ⓒ</f>“Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.”


text:
Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, <f>ⓔ</f>The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at <f>ⓕ</f>Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.


text:
<pb/>That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down <f>ⓖ</f>the Asherah that is beside it


text:
and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the <f>ⓗ</f>stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.”


text:
So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.


text:
<pb/>When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.


text:
And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”


text:
Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”


text:
But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”


text:
Therefore on that day Gideon <f>[3]</f> was called <f>ⓘ</f>Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓙ</f>all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in <f>ⓚ</f>the Valley of Jezreel.


text:
But <f>ⓛ</f>the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, <f>ⓜ</f>and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. <f>ⓞ</f>And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.


text:
behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”


text:
And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.


text:
Then Gideon said to God, <f>ⓠ</f>“Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”


text:
<pb/>Then <f>ⓐ</f>Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside <f>ⓑ</f>the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, <f>ⓒ</f>by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.


text:
<pb/>The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, <f>ⓓ</f>lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’


text:
Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, <f>ⓔ</f>‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.


text:
<pb/>And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”


text:
So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.”


text:
And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.


text:
And the LORD said to Gideon, <f>ⓕ</f>“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”


text:
So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him <f>ⓖ</f>in the valley.


text:
<pb/>That same <f>ⓗ</f>night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, <f>ⓘ</f>for I have given it into your hand.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” <f>ⓚ</f>Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.


text:
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and <f>ⓛ</f>all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, <f>ⓜ</f>as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.


text:
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”


text:
And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”


text:
<pb/>As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.”


text:
And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with <f>ⓝ</f>torches inside the jars.


text:
And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.


text:
When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, <f>ⓞ</f>‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”


text:
<pb/>So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.


text:
Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. <f>ⓟ</f>And they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”


text:
Every man stood in his place around the camp, <f>ⓠ</f>and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> When they blew the 300 trumpets, <f>ⓢ</f>the LORD set <f>ⓣ</f>every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, <f>[1]</f> as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.


text:
And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓤ</f> Gideon sent messengers throughout <f>ⓥ</f>all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as <f>ⓦ</f>Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.


text:
And they captured <f>ⓧ</f>the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb <f>ⓨ</f>at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon <f>ⓩ</f>across the Jordan.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely.


text:
And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not <f>ⓑ</f>the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” <f>ⓓ</f>Then their anger <f>[1]</f> against him subsided when he said this.


text:
<pb/>And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and <f>ⓔ</f>the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing.


text:
So he said to the men of <f>ⓕ</f>Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”


text:
And the officials of Succoth said, <f>ⓖ</f>“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, <f>ⓗ</f>that we should give bread to your army?”


text:
So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, <f>ⓘ</f>I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”


text:
And from there he went up to <f>ⓙ</f>Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.


text:
And he said to the men of Penuel, <f>ⓚ</f>“When I come again in peace, <f>ⓛ</f>I will break down this tower.”


text:
<pb/>Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of <f>ⓜ</f>the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men <f>ⓝ</f>who drew the sword.


text:
And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of <f>ⓞ</f>Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt <f>ⓟ</f>secure.


text:
And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them <f>ⓠ</f>and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.


text:
And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.


text:
And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, <f>ⓡ</f>‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’”


text:
And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson.


text:
<pb/>Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at <f>ⓣ</f>Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”


text:
And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. <f>ⓤ</f>As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”


text:
So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man.


text:
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and <f>ⓥ</f>killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took <f>ⓦ</f>the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.


text:
<pb/>Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”


text:
Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; <f>ⓧ</f>the LORD will rule over you.”


text:
And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, <f>ⓨ</f>because they were Ishmaelites.)


text:
And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil.


text:
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels <f>[2]</f> of gold, besides <f>ⓩ</f>the crescent ornaments and <f>ⓐ</f>the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels.


text:
And Gideon <f>ⓑ</f>made an ephod of it and put it in his city, <f>ⓒ</f>in Ophrah. And all Israel <f>ⓓ</f>whored after it there, and it became a <f>ⓔ</f>snare to Gideon and to his family.


text:
So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. <f>ⓕ</f>And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.


text:
And Gideon the son of Joash died <f>ⓙ</f>in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, <f>ⓚ</f>at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓛ</f> As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and <f>ⓜ</f>whored after the Baals and made <f>ⓝ</f>Baal-berith their god.


text:
And the people of Israel <f>ⓞ</f>did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.


text:
<pb/>Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to <f>ⓐ</f>his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,


text:
“Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all <f>ⓑ</f>seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that <f>ⓒ</f>I am <f>ⓓ</f>your bone and your flesh.”


text:
<pb/>And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, <f>ⓔ</f>“He is our brother.”


text:
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of <f>ⓕ</f>Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired <f>ⓖ</f>worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.


text:
And he went to his father's house at <f>ⓗ</f>Ophrah <f>ⓘ</f>and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.


text:
And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all <f>ⓙ</f>Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.


text:
<pb/>When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of <f>ⓚ</f>Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, <f>ⓜ</f>‘Reign over us.’


text:
But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’


text:
But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’


text:
But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that <f>ⓝ</f>cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’


text:
And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and <f>ⓞ</f>take refuge in my shade, but if not, <f>ⓟ</f>let fire come out of the bramble and devour <f>ⓠ</f>the cedars of Lebanon.’


text:
<pb/>“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with <f>ⓡ</f>Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him <f>ⓢ</f>as his deeds deserved —


text:
and you have risen up against my father's house this day <f>ⓣ</f>and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made <f>ⓤ</f>Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, <f>ⓥ</f>because he is your relative —


text:
if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then <f>ⓦ</f>rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.


text:
But if not, <f>ⓧ</f>let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.”


text:
And Jotham ran away and fled and went to <f>ⓨ</f>Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.


text:
<f>ⓩ</f> And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem <f>ⓐ</f>dealt treacherously with Abimelech,


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.


text:
And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.


text:
<pb/>And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him.


text:
And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into <f>ⓒ</f>the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech.


text:
And Gaal the son of Ebed said, <f>ⓓ</f>“Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of <f>ⓔ</f>Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?


text:
Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say <f>[1]</f> to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”


text:
<pb/>When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.


text:
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, <f>[2]</f> saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up <f>[3]</f> the city against you.


text:
Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them <f>ⓕ</f>as your hand finds to do.”


text:
<pb/>So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.


text:
And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.


text:
And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from <f>ⓖ</f>the mountaintops!” And Zebul said to him, “You mistake <f>[4]</f> the shadow of the mountains for men.”


text:
Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak.”


text:
Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, <f>ⓗ</f>‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.”


text:
And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.


text:
And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.


text:
He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them.


text:
Abimelech and the company that was with him <f>ⓘ</f>rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.


text:
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and <f>ⓙ</f>he razed the city and <f>ⓚ</f>sowed it with salt.


text:
<pb/>When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered <f>ⓛ</f>the stronghold of the house of <f>ⓜ</f>El-berith.


text:
And Abimelech went up to Mount <f>ⓝ</f>Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.”


text:
So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against <f>ⓞ</f>the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.


text:
But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower.


text:
And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.


text:
And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came <f>ⓢ</f>the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.


text:
<pb/>After Abimelech there arose to <f>ⓐ</f>save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in <f>ⓑ</f>the hill country of Ephraim.


text:
And he had thirty sons who <f>ⓒ</f>rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, <f>ⓓ</f>which are in the land of Gilead.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓔ</f> The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD <f>ⓕ</f>and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, <f>ⓖ</f>the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they <f>ⓗ</f>forsook the LORD and did not serve him.


text:
So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and <f>ⓘ</f>he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,


text:
and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.


text:
And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.


text:
<pb/>And the people of Israel <f>ⓙ</f>cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because <f>ⓚ</f>we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”


text:
And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you <f>ⓛ</f>from the Egyptians and <f>ⓜ</f>from the Amorites, <f>ⓝ</f>from the Ammonites and <f>ⓞ</f>from the Philistines?


text:
The Sidonians also, and <f>ⓟ</f>the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I <f>ⓠ</f>saved you out of their hand.


text:
Go and cry out <f>ⓢ</f>to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”


text:
And the people of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.”


text:
So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and <f>ⓣ</f>he became impatient over the misery of Israel.


text:
<pb/>Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at <f>ⓤ</f>Mizpah.


text:
And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? <f>ⓥ</f>He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓐ</f>Jephthah the Gileadite was <f>ⓑ</f>a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.


text:
And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.”


text:
Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of <f>ⓒ</f>Tob, and <f>ⓓ</f>worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.


text:
And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of <f>ⓔ</f>Tob.


text:
But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”


text:
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and <f>ⓕ</f>be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”


text:
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.”


text:
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, <f>ⓖ</f>“The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.”


text:
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people <f>ⓗ</f>made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words <f>ⓘ</f>before the LORD at <f>ⓙ</f>Mizpah.


text:
<pb/>Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”


text:
And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, <f>ⓚ</f>“Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the <f>ⓛ</f>Arnon to the <f>ⓜ</f>Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.”


text:
and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: <f>ⓝ</f>Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,


text:
but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness <f>ⓞ</f>to the Red Sea and <f>ⓟ</f>came to Kadesh.


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ <f>ⓡ</f>but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel <f>ⓢ</f>remained at Kadesh.


text:
<pb/>“Then they journeyed through the wilderness and <f>ⓣ</f>went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and <f>ⓤ</f>arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and <f>ⓥ</f>camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’


text:
but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.


text:
And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.


text:
And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.


text:
So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?


text:
Will you not possess what <f>ⓧ</f>Chemosh your god gives you to possess? <f>ⓨ</f>And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.


text:
Now are you any better than <f>ⓩ</f>Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?


text:
While Israel lived <f>ⓐ</f>in Heshbon and its villages, and <f>ⓑ</f>in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?


text:
I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. <f>ⓒ</f>The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓓ</f> Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.


text:
then whatever <f>[1]</f> comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites <f>ⓕ</f>shall be the LORD's, and <f>ⓖ</f>I will offer it <f>[2]</f> up for a burnt offering.”


text:
So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand.


text:
And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of <f>ⓗ</f>Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.


text:
<pb/>Then Jephthah came to his home at <f>ⓘ</f>Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him <f>ⓙ</f>with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.


text:
And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, <f>ⓚ</f>and I cannot take back my vow.”


text:
And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.”


text:
So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”


text:
So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.


text:
And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, <f>ⓛ</f>who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel


text:
that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.”


text:
And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand.


text:
And when I saw that you would not save me, <f>ⓑ</f>I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”


text:
Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, <f>ⓒ</f>“You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.”


text:
And the Gileadites captured <f>ⓓ</f>the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”


text:
they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at <f>ⓔ</f>the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.


text:
<pb/>Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead. <f>[1]</f>


text:
He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.


text:
He had forty <f>ⓕ</f>sons and thirty grandsons, who <f>ⓖ</f>rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years.


text:
Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.


text:
<pb/>And the people of Israel again <f>ⓐ</f>did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them <f>ⓑ</f>into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.


text:
<pb/>There was a certain man of <f>ⓒ</f>Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. <f>ⓓ</f>And his wife was barren and had no children.


text:
<f>ⓔ</f> And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.


text:
for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. <f>ⓖ</f>No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be <f>ⓗ</f>a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall <f>ⓘ</f>begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”


text:
Then the woman came and told her husband, <f>ⓙ</f>“A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. <f>ⓚ</f>I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name,


text:
but he said to me, <f>ⓛ</f>‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”


text:
<pb/>Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.”


text:
And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.


text:
So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.”


text:
And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.”


text:
And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, <f>ⓜ</f>what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?”


text:
She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, <f>ⓝ</f>neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”


text:
<pb/>Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and <f>ⓞ</f>prepare a young goat for you.”


text:
And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.)


text:
And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, <f>ⓟ</f>“What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?”


text:
And the angel of the LORD said to him, <f>ⓠ</f>“Why do you ask my name, seeing <f>ⓡ</f>it is wonderful?”


text:
So <f>ⓢ</f>Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works <f>[1]</f> wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.


text:
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, <f>ⓣ</f>and they fell on their faces to the ground.


text:
<pb/>The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. <f>ⓤ</f>Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.


text:
But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”


text:
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. <f>ⓦ</f>And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between <f>ⓨ</f>Zorah and Eshtaol.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Samson went down to <f>ⓑ</f>Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.


text:
Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. <f>ⓒ</f>Now get her for me as my wife.”


text:
But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters <f>ⓓ</f>of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the <f>ⓔ</f>uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”


text:
<pb/>His father and mother did not know that it was <f>ⓕ</f>from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. <f>ⓖ</f>At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.


text:
<pb/>Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.


text:
<pb/>After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.


text:
He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.


text:
<pb/>His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do.


text:
And Samson said to them, <f>ⓘ</f>“Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within <f>ⓙ</f>the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty <f>ⓚ</f>changes of clothes,


text:
but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.”


text:
And he said to them, <pb/><t>“Out of the eater came something to eat. </t><t>Out of the strong came something sweet.” </t> <pb/>And in three days they could not solve the riddle.


text:
<pb/>On the fourth <f>[1]</f> day they said to Samson's wife, <f>ⓛ</f>“Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, <f>ⓜ</f>lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?”


text:
And Samson's wife wept over him and said, <f>ⓝ</f>“You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?”


text:
She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because <f>ⓞ</f>she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.


text:
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, <pb/><t>“What is sweeter than honey? </t><t>What is stronger than a lion?” </t> <pb/>And he said to them, <pb/><t>“If you had not plowed with my heifer, </t><t>you would not have found out my riddle.” </t>


text:
<pb/><f>ⓟ</f> And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to <f>ⓠ</f>Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.


text:
<pb/>After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with <f>ⓐ</f>a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in.


text:
And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, <f>ⓑ</f>so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”


text:
And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.”


text:
So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails.


text:
And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.


text:
Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife <f>ⓒ</f>and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and <f>ⓓ</f>burned her and her father with fire.


text:
And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”


text:
And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the <f>ⓔ</f>cleft of the rock of Etam.


text:
And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.”


text:
Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that <f>ⓗ</f>the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.”


text:
And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”


text:
They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two <f>ⓘ</f>new ropes and brought him up from the rock.


text:
<pb/>When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. <f>ⓙ</f>Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.


text:
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, <f>ⓚ</f>and with it he struck 1,000 men.


text:
And Samson said, <pb/><t>“With the jawbone of a donkey, </t><t>heaps upon heaps, </t><t>with the jawbone of a donkey </t><t>have I struck down a thousand men.” </t>


text:
<pb/>As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place <f>ⓛ</f>was called Ramath-lehi. <f>[1]</f>


text:
<pb/>And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, <f>ⓜ</f>“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”


text:
And God split open the hollow place that is <f>ⓝ</f>at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, <f>ⓞ</f>his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; <f>[2]</f> it is at Lehi to this day.


text:
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they <f>ⓑ</f>surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”


text:
But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.


text:
And <f>ⓒ</f>the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, <f>ⓓ</f>“Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to <f>ⓔ</f>humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”


text:
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could <f>ⓕ</f>subdue you.”


text:
<pb/>Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, <f>ⓖ</f>then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”


text:
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.


text:
Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.


text:
<pb/>Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.”


text:
And he said to her, “If they bind me with <f>ⓗ</f>new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”


text:
So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.


text:
<pb/>Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”


text:
So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. <f>[1]</f> And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.


text:
<pb/>And she said to him, <f>ⓘ</f>“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.”


text:
And <f>ⓙ</f>when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.


text:
And he told her all his heart, and said to her, <f>ⓚ</f>“A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”


text:
<pb/>When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought <f>ⓛ</f>the money in their hands.


text:
She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began <f>ⓜ</f>to torment him, and his strength left him.


text:
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that <f>ⓝ</f>the LORD had left him.


text:
And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. <f>ⓞ</f>And he ground at the mill in the prison.


text:
<pb/>Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to <f>ⓟ</f>Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”


text:
And when the people saw him, <f>ⓠ</f>they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” <f>[2]</f>


text:
And <f>ⓡ</f>when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.


text:
And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.”


text:
Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and <f>ⓢ</f>on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.


text:
<pb/>Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, <f>ⓣ</f>please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”


text:
And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.


text:
And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.


text:
Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him <f>ⓤ</f>between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.


text:
And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, <f>ⓑ</f>“Blessed be my son by the LORD.”


text:
And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make <f>ⓒ</f>a carved image and <f>ⓓ</f>a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.”


text:
So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother <f>ⓔ</f>took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.


text:
And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made <f>ⓕ</f>an ephod and <f>ⓖ</f>household gods, and <f>ⓗ</f>ordained <f>[1]</f> one of his sons, who became his priest.


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> In those days there was no king in Israel. <f>ⓙ</f>Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.


text:
<pb/>Now there was a young man of <f>ⓚ</f>Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.


text:
And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to <f>ⓛ</f>the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.


text:
And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.”


text:
And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me <f>ⓜ</f>a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in.


text:
And the Levite <f>ⓝ</f>was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.


text:
And Micah <f>ⓞ</f>ordained the Levite, and the young man <f>ⓟ</f>became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days <f>ⓑ</f>the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.


text:
So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, <f>ⓒ</f>from Zorah and from Eshtaol, <f>ⓓ</f>to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came <f>ⓔ</f>to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.


text:
When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”


text:
And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: <f>ⓕ</f>he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”


text:
And they said to him, <f>ⓖ</f>“Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”


text:
And the priest said to them, <f>ⓗ</f>“Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”


text:
<pb/>Then the five men departed and came to <f>ⓘ</f>Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, <f>ⓙ</f>quiet and unsuspecting, lacking <f>[1]</f> nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how <f>ⓚ</f>they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.


text:
And when they came to their brothers at <f>ⓛ</f>Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?”


text:
They said, <f>ⓜ</f>“Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. <f>ⓝ</f>And will you do nothing? <f>ⓞ</f>Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.


text:
As soon as you go, you will come to an <f>ⓟ</f>unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, <f>ⓠ</f>a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”


text:
<pb/>So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, <f>ⓡ</f>armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol,


text:
and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called <f>ⓢ</f>Mahaneh-dan <f>[2]</f> to this day; behold, it is west of <f>ⓣ</f>Kiriath-jearim.


text:
And they passed on from there to <f>ⓤ</f>the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.


text:
<pb/>Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that <f>ⓥ</f>in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.”


text:
And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and <f>ⓦ</f>asked him about his welfare.


text:
Now the 600 men of the Danites, <f>ⓧ</f>armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate.


text:
And <f>ⓨ</f>the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took <f>ⓩ</f>the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war.


text:
And when these went into Micah's house and took <f>ⓐ</f>the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”


text:
And they said to him, “Keep quiet; <f>ⓑ</f>put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us <f>ⓒ</f>a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”


text:
And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.


text:
<pb/>So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and <f>ⓓ</f>the goods in front of them.


text:
When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan.


text:
And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?”


text:
And he said, <f>ⓔ</f>“You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”


text:
And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”


text:
Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.


text:
<pb/>But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people <f>ⓕ</f>quiet and unsuspecting, and <f>ⓖ</f>struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.


text:
And there was no deliverer because it was <f>ⓗ</f>far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to <f>ⓘ</f>Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it.


text:
And they named the city <f>ⓙ</f>Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but <f>ⓚ</f>the name of the city was Laish at the first.


text:
And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, <f>ⓛ</f>son of Moses, <f>[3]</f> <f>ⓜ</f>and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day <f>ⓝ</f>of the captivity of the land.


text:
So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, <f>ⓞ</f>as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.


text:
<pb/>In those days, <f>ⓐ</f>when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of <f>ⓑ</f>the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from <f>ⓒ</f>Bethlehem in Judah.


text:
And his concubine was unfaithful to <f>[1]</f> him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.


text:
Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.


text:
And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there.


text:
And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, <f>ⓓ</f>“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.”


text:
So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and <f>ⓔ</f>let your heart be merry.”


text:
And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, <f>ⓕ</f>“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them.


text:
And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”


text:
<pb/>But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite <f>ⓖ</f>Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.


text:
When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”


text:
And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to <f>ⓗ</f>Gibeah.”


text:
And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at <f>ⓘ</f>Ramah.”


text:
So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin,


text:
and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, <f>ⓙ</f>for no one took them into his house to spend the night.


text:
<pb/>And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from <f>ⓚ</f>the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. <f>ⓛ</f>The men of the place were Benjaminites.


text:
And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?”


text:
And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going <f>ⓜ</f>to the house of the LORD, <f>[2]</f> <f>ⓝ</f>but no one has taken me into his house.


text:
We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. <f>ⓞ</f>There is no lack of anything.”


text:
And the old man said, <f>ⓟ</f>“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. <f>ⓠ</f>Only, do not spend the night in the square.”


text:
So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. <f>ⓡ</f>And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.


text:
<pb/>As they were <f>ⓢ</f>making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, <f>ⓣ</f>surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”


text:
And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, <f>ⓤ</f>do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, <f>ⓥ</f>do not do this vile thing.


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. <f>ⓧ</f>Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man <f>ⓨ</f>do not do this outrageous thing.”


text:
But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.


text:
And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.


text:
<pb/>And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.


text:
He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” <f>ⓩ</f>But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.


text:
And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he <f>ⓐ</f>divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; <f>ⓒ</f>consider it, take counsel, and speak.”


text:
<pb/>Then <f>ⓐ</f>all the people of Israel came out, <f>ⓑ</f>from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at <f>ⓒ</f>Mizpah.


text:
And the <f>ⓓ</f>chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot <f>ⓔ</f>that drew the sword.


text:
(Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?”


text:
And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, <f>ⓕ</f>“I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and <f>ⓘ</f>outrage in Israel.


text:
<pb/>And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.


text:
and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓚ</f> And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you?


text:
Now therefore give up the men, <f>ⓛ</f>the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death <f>ⓜ</f>and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel.


text:
Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel.


text:
And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day <f>ⓝ</f>26,000 men <f>ⓞ</f>who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men.


text:
Among all these were 700 chosen men who were <f>ⓟ</f>left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.


text:
And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered <f>ⓠ</f>400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.


text:
<pb/>The people of Israel arose and went up to <f>ⓡ</f>Bethel and inquired of God, <f>ⓢ</f>“Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, <f>ⓣ</f>“Judah shall go up first.”


text:
And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.


text:
<f>ⓤ</f> The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites.


text:
But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.


text:
<f>ⓥ</f> And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening. And they inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.”


text:
And Benjamin <f>ⓦ</f>went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who <f>ⓧ</f>drew the sword.


text:
Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to <f>ⓨ</f>Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.


text:
And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD <f>ⓩ</f>(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,


text:
and <f>ⓐ</f>Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, <f>ⓑ</f>ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”


text:
And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.


text:
And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, <f>ⓓ</f>one of which goes up to <f>ⓔ</f>Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.


text:
And the people of Benjamin said, <f>ⓕ</f>“They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”


text:
And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba. <f>[1]</f>


text:
And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, <f>ⓖ</f>but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them.


text:
And the LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who <f>ⓗ</f>drew the sword.


text:
So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. <pb/>The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.


text:
Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city


text:
the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, <f>ⓙ</f>“Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”


text:
But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, <f>ⓚ</f>the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.


text:
Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, <f>ⓛ</f>for they saw that disaster was close upon them.


text:
Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in <f>ⓜ</f>the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst.


text:
Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah <f>[2]</f> as far as opposite Gibeah on the east.


text:
And they turned <f>ⓝ</f>and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of <f>ⓞ</f>Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down.


text:
But 600 men turned and <f>ⓟ</f>fled toward the wilderness to the rock of <f>ⓠ</f>Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months.


text:
And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.


text:
<pb/>Now the men of Israel had sworn <f>ⓐ</f>at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.”


text:
And the people came to <f>ⓑ</f>Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.


text:
And they said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?”


text:
And the next day the people rose early and <f>ⓒ</f>built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.


text:
And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” <f>ⓓ</f>For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”


text:
And the people of Israel <f>ⓔ</f>had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”


text:
<pb/>And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from <f>ⓖ</f>Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.


text:
For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of <f>ⓗ</f>Jabesh-gilead was there.


text:
So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, <f>ⓘ</f>“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones.


text:
This is what you shall do: <f>ⓙ</f>every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.”


text:
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at <f>ⓚ</f>Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.


text:
<pb/>Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the <f>ⓛ</f>rock of Rimmon and <f>ⓜ</f>proclaimed peace to them.


text:
And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them.


text:
And the people <f>ⓝ</f>had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.


text:
<pb/>Then the elders of the congregation said, <f>ⓞ</f>“What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”


text:
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.


text:
Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” <f>ⓟ</f>For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.”


text:
So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of <f>ⓠ</f>the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”


text:
and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to <f>ⓡ</f>dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.


text:
And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’”


text:
And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance <f>ⓢ</f>and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.


text:
And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.


text:
<pb/>In the days <f>ⓐ</f>when the judges ruled there was <f>ⓑ</f>a famine in the land, and a man of <f>ⓒ</f>Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.


text:
The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were <f>ⓓ</f>Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.


text:
These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years,


text:
<pb/>Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that <f>ⓔ</f>the LORD had visited his people and <f>ⓕ</f>given them food.


text:
So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.


text:
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD <f>ⓖ</f>deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with <f>ⓗ</f>the dead and with me.


text:
The LORD grant that you may find <f>ⓘ</f>rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.


text:
But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb <f>ⓙ</f>that they may become your husbands?


text:
Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,


text:
would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that <f>ⓚ</f>the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”


text:
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.


text:
<pb/>And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to <f>ⓛ</f>her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”


text:
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. <f>ⓜ</f>Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.


text:
Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. <f>ⓝ</f>May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”


text:
<pb/>So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, <f>ⓟ</f>the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?”


text:
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; <f>[1]</f> call me <f>ⓠ</f>Mara, <f>[2]</f> for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”


text:
<pb/>So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem <f>ⓢ</f>at the beginning of barley harvest.


text:
<pb/>Now Naomi had <f>ⓐ</f>a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was <f>ⓑ</f>Boaz.


text:
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and <f>ⓒ</f>glean among the ears of grain after him <f>ⓓ</f>in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”


text:
So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.


text:
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, <f>ⓔ</f>“The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.”


text:
And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, <f>ⓕ</f>who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.


text:
She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.” <f>[1]</f>


text:
<pb/>Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.


text:
Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”


text:
Then <f>ⓖ</f>she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should <f>ⓗ</f>take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”


text:
But Boaz answered her, <f>ⓘ</f>“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”


text:
Then she said, <f>ⓚ</f>“I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”


text:
<pb/>And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until <f>ⓛ</f>she was satisfied, and she had some left over.


text:
When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.


text:
And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”


text:
<pb/>So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah <f>[2]</f> of barley.


text:
And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over <f>ⓜ</f>after being satisfied.


text:
And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man <f>ⓝ</f>who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”


text:
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, <f>ⓞ</f>“May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken <f>ⓟ</f>the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of <f>ⓠ</f>our redeemers.”


text:
And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’”


text:
And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.”


text:
So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.


text:
<pb/>Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek <f>ⓐ</f>rest for you, that it may be well with you?


text:
Is not Boaz <f>ⓑ</f>our relative, <f>ⓒ</f>with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.


text:
<f>ⓓ</f> Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.


text:
But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.”


text:
And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and <f>ⓔ</f>his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.


text:
He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. <f>ⓕ</f>Spread your wings <f>[1]</f> over your servant, for you are <f>ⓖ</f>a redeemer.”


text:
And he said, <f>ⓗ</f>“May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than <f>ⓘ</f>the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.


text:
And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are <f>ⓙ</f>a worthy woman.


text:
Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will <f>ⓛ</f>redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, <f>ⓜ</f>as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”


text:
<pb/>So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”


text:
And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.


text:
And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her,


text:
saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”


text:
She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”


text:
<pb/>Now Boaz had gone up to <f>ⓐ</f>the gate and sat down there. And behold, <f>ⓑ</f>the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.


text:
Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.


text:
So I thought I would tell you of it and say, <f>ⓓ</f>‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you <f>[1]</f> will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.”


text:
Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth <f>[2]</f> the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order <f>ⓔ</f>to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓖ</f> Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel.


text:
Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to <f>ⓗ</f>Chilion and to Mahlon.


text:
Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, <f>ⓘ</f>to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”


text:
Then all the people who were <f>ⓙ</f>at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, <f>ⓚ</f>who together <f>ⓛ</f>built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in <f>ⓜ</f>Ephrathah and <f>ⓝ</f>be renowned in Bethlehem,


text:
and may your house be like the house of Perez, <f>ⓞ</f>whom Tamar bore to Judah, because <f>ⓟ</f>of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.”


text:
<pb/>So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, <f>ⓠ</f>and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without <f>ⓢ</f>a redeemer, and may his name <f>ⓣ</f>be renowned in Israel!


text:
He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, <f>ⓤ</f>who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”


text:
<f>ⓥ</f> And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.


text:
<pb/>There was a certain man of <f>ⓐ</f>Ramathaim-zophim of <f>ⓑ</f>the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, <f>ⓒ</f>an Ephrathite.


text:
He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.


text:
<pb/>Now this man used to go up <f>ⓓ</f>year by year from his city <f>ⓔ</f>to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts <f>ⓕ</f>at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.


text:
On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, <f>ⓖ</f>he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.


text:
But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. <f>[1]</f>


text:
So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.


text:
And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? <f>ⓗ</f>Am I not more to you than ten sons?”


text:
<pb/>After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of <f>ⓘ</f>the temple of the LORD.


text:
And she <f>ⓚ</f>vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed <f>ⓛ</f>look on the affliction of your servant and <f>ⓜ</f>remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, <f>ⓝ</f>and no razor shall touch his head.”


text:
Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.


text:
But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but <f>ⓞ</f>I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.


text:
Do not regard your servant as <f>ⓟ</f>a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”


text:
Then Eli answered, <f>ⓠ</f>“Go in peace, and the God of Israel <f>ⓡ</f>grant your petition that you have made to him.”


text:
And she said, <f>ⓢ</f>“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman <f>ⓣ</f>went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.


text:
<pb/>They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at <f>ⓤ</f>Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD <f>ⓥ</f>remembered her.


text:
And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.” <f>[2]</f>


text:
<pb/>The man Elkanah and all his house <f>ⓦ</f>went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.


text:
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD <f>ⓧ</f>and dwell there forever.”


text:
<f>ⓨ</f> Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; <f>ⓩ</f>only, may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.


text:
And when she had weaned him, <f>ⓐ</f>she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, <f>[3]</f> an ephah <f>[4]</f> of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to <f>ⓑ</f>the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young.


text:
And she said, “Oh, my lord! <f>ⓒ</f>As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD.


text:
Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” <pb/><f>ⓔ</f>And he worshiped the LORD there.


text:
<pb/>And Hannah prayed and said, <pb/><t><f>ⓐ</f>“My heart exults in the LORD; </t><t><f>ⓑ</f>my horn is exalted in the LORD. </t><t>My mouth derides my enemies, </t><t>because <f>ⓒ</f>I rejoice in your salvation. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓓ</f> “There is none holy like the LORD: </t><t>for there is none besides you; </t><t>there is <f>ⓔ</f>no rock like our God.</t>


text:
<t>Talk no more so very proudly, </t><t>let not arrogance come from your mouth; </t><t>for the LORD is a God of knowledge, </t><t>and by him actions are weighed.</t>


text:
<t>Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, </t><t>but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. </t><t><f>ⓖ</f>The barren has borne seven, </t><t><f>ⓗ</f>but she who has many children is forlorn.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓛ</f> He raises up the poor from the dust; </t><t>he lifts the needy from the ash heap </t><t><f>ⓜ</f>to make them sit with princes </t><t>and inherit a seat of honor. </t><t><f>ⓝ</f>For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, </t><t>and on them he has set the world. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓞ</f> “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, </t><t>but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, </t><t>for not by might shall a man prevail.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓟ</f> The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; </t><t><f>ⓠ</f>against them he will thunder in heaven. </t><t><f>ⓡ</f>The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; </t><t>he will give strength to his king </t><t><f>ⓢ</f>and exalt the horn of his anointed.” </t>


text:
<pb/>Then Elkanah went home <f>ⓣ</f>to Ramah. <f>ⓤ</f>And the boy <f>[1]</f> was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.


text:
The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,


text:
and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.


text:
Moreover, <f>ⓧ</f>before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.”


text:
And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.”


text:
Thus the sin of the young men was very great <f>ⓨ</f>in the sight of the LORD, <f>ⓩ</f>for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.


text:
And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year <f>ⓒ</f>when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.


text:
Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman <f>ⓓ</f>for the petition she asked of the LORD.” So then they would return to their home.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓔ</f> Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. <f>ⓕ</f>And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.


text:
<pb/>Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who <f>ⓖ</f>were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.


text:
And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people.


text:
If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, <f>ⓗ</f>for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.


text:
<pb/>Now the boy Samuel <f>ⓘ</f>continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.


text:
<pb/>And there came <f>ⓙ</f>a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, <f>ⓚ</f>‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh?


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, <f>ⓜ</f>to wear an ephod before me? <f>ⓝ</f>I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.


text:
Why then do you <f>ⓞ</f>scorn <f>[2]</f> my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’


text:
Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: <f>ⓟ</f>‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ <f>ⓠ</f>but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.


text:
Behold, <f>ⓡ</f>the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.


text:
Then <f>ⓢ</f>in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, <f>ⓣ</f>and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.


text:
The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his <f>[3]</f> eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants <f>[4]</f> of your house shall die by the sword of men. <f>[5]</f>


text:
<f>ⓤ</f> And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die <f>ⓥ</f>on the same day.


text:
<f>ⓦ</f> And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. <f>ⓧ</f>And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before <f>ⓨ</f>my anointed forever.


text:
And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. <f>ⓑ</f>And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.


text:
<pb/>At that time Eli, <f>ⓒ</f>whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.


text:
<f>ⓓ</f> The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down <f>ⓔ</f>in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.


text:
and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.


text:
<pb/>And the LORD called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”


text:
<pb/>And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy.


text:
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.


text:
<pb/>And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”


text:
Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel <f>ⓕ</f>at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.


text:
On that day I will fulfill against Eli <f>ⓖ</f>all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, <f>ⓘ</f>because his sons were blaspheming God, <f>[1]</f> <f>ⓙ</f>and he did not restrain them.


text:
Therefore I swear to the house of Eli <f>ⓚ</f>that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”


text:
<pb/>Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.


text:
And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. <f>ⓛ</f>May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”


text:
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, <f>ⓜ</f>“It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓝ</f> And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him <f>ⓞ</f>and let none of his words fall to the ground.


text:
And all Israel <f>ⓟ</f>from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.


text:
And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel <f>ⓠ</f>at Shiloh <f>ⓡ</f>by the word of the LORD.


text:
<pb/>And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. <pb/>Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at <f>ⓐ</f>Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at <f>ⓑ</f>Aphek.


text:
The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.


text:
And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here <f>ⓒ</f>from Shiloh, that it <f>[1]</f> may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”


text:
So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, <f>ⓓ</f>who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.


text:
<pb/>As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel <f>ⓔ</f>gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.


text:
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp,


text:
the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.


text:
Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews <f>ⓖ</f>as they have been to you; be men and fight.”


text:
<pb/>So the Philistines fought, <f>ⓗ</f>and Israel was defeated, <f>ⓘ</f>and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> And the ark of God was captured, <f>ⓚ</f>and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.


text:
<pb/>A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, <f>ⓛ</f>with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.


text:
When he arrived, <f>ⓜ</f>Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out.


text:
When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli.


text:
And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, <f>ⓞ</f>“How did it go, my son?”


text:
He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”


text:
As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward <f>ⓟ</f>from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.


text:
<pb/>Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.


text:
And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, <f>ⓠ</f>“Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.


text:
And she named the child <f>ⓡ</f>Ichabod, saying, <f>ⓢ</f>“The glory has departed <f>[2]</f> from Israel!” because <f>ⓣ</f>the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.


text:
<pb/>When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from <f>ⓐ</f>Ebenezer to <f>ⓑ</f>Ashdod.


text:
Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside <f>ⓒ</f>Dagon.


text:
And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, <f>ⓓ</f>Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.


text:
But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, <f>ⓔ</f>and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.


text:
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon <f>ⓕ</f>do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓖ</f> The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with <f>ⓗ</f>tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.


text:
And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.”


text:
So they sent and gathered together all <f>ⓘ</f>the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there.


text:
But after they had brought it around, <f>ⓙ</f>the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that <f>ⓚ</f>tumors broke out on them.


text:
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.”


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. <f>ⓜ</f>The hand of God was very heavy there.


text:
And the Philistines called for the priests and <f>ⓐ</f>the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.”


text:
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him <f>ⓑ</f>a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why <f>ⓒ</f>his hand does not turn away from you.”


text:
And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden <f>ⓓ</f>tumors and five golden mice, <f>ⓔ</f>according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.


text:
So you must make images of your <f>ⓕ</f>tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, <f>ⓖ</f>and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps <f>ⓗ</f>he will lighten his hand from off you <f>ⓘ</f>and your gods and your land.


text:
Why should you harden your hearts as <f>ⓙ</f>the Egyptians and <f>ⓚ</f>Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, <f>ⓛ</f>did they not send the people away, and they departed?


text:
Now then, take and prepare <f>ⓜ</f>a new cart and two milk cows <f>ⓝ</f>on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them.


text:
And take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side <f>ⓞ</f>the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as <f>ⓟ</f>a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way


text:
and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to <f>ⓠ</f>Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not <f>ⓡ</f>his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”


text:
<pb/>The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home.


text:
And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.


text:
And the cows went straight in the direction of <f>ⓢ</f>Beth-shemesh along <f>ⓣ</f>one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of <f>ⓤ</f>Beth-shemesh.


text:
Now the people of <f>ⓥ</f>Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it.


text:
The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. <f>ⓦ</f>A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.


text:
And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon <f>ⓧ</f>the great stone. And the men of <f>ⓨ</f>Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD.


text:
<pb/>These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a <f>ⓐ</f>guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron,


text:
and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, <f>ⓑ</f>both fortified cities and unwalled villages. <f>ⓒ</f>The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓓ</f> And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, <f>[1]</f> and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow.


text:
Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, <f>ⓔ</f>“Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?”


text:
So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of <f>ⓕ</f>Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to you.”


text:
<pb/>And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of <f>ⓐ</f>Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD.


text:
From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.


text:
<pb/>And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, <f>ⓑ</f>“If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then <f>ⓒ</f>put away the foreign gods and the <f>ⓓ</f>Ashtaroth from among you and <f>ⓔ</f>direct your heart to the LORD <f>ⓕ</f>and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”


text:
So they gathered at <f>ⓗ</f>Mizpah <f>ⓘ</f>and drew water and poured it out before the LORD <f>ⓙ</f>and fasted on that day and said there, <f>ⓚ</f>“We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.


text:
Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.


text:
And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”


text:
So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. And <f>ⓛ</f>Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him.


text:
As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. <f>ⓜ</f>But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel.


text:
And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel <f>ⓝ</f>took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen <f>[1]</f> and called its name Ebenezer; <f>[2]</f> for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”


text:
<f>ⓞ</f> So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.


text:
The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.


text:
And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places.


text:
Then he would return to <f>ⓠ</f>Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. <f>ⓡ</f>And he built there an altar to the LORD.


text:
The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.


text:
Yet his sons did not walk in his ways <f>ⓑ</f>but turned aside after gain. <f>ⓒ</f>They took bribes and perverted justice.


text:
and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. <f>ⓔ</f>Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”


text:
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.


text:
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, <f>ⓕ</f>for they have not rejected you, <f>ⓖ</f>but they have rejected me from being king over them.


text:
According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.


text:
Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them <f>ⓗ</f>and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”


text:
He said, <f>ⓘ</f>“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: <f>ⓙ</f>he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.


text:
And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some <f>ⓚ</f>to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.


text:
He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.


text:
He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men <f>[1]</f> and your donkeys, and put them to his work.


text:
And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, <f>ⓜ</f>but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”


text:
<pb/>But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”


text:
And the LORD said to Samuel, <f>ⓞ</f>“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”


text:
<pb/>There was a man of Benjamin whose name was <f>ⓐ</f>Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth.


text:
And he had a son whose name was Saul, <f>ⓑ</f>a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. <f>ⓒ</f>From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.


text:
<pb/>Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.”


text:
And he passed through <f>ⓓ</f>the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of <f>ⓔ</f>Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.


text:
<pb/>When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant <f>[1]</f> who was with him, “Come, let us go back, <f>ⓕ</f>lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.”


text:
But he said to him, “Behold, there is <f>ⓖ</f>a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; <f>ⓗ</f>all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.”


text:
Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, <f>ⓘ</f>what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”


text:
The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel <f>[2]</f> of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.”


text:
(Formerly in Israel, when a man <f>ⓙ</f>went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today's “prophet” was formerly called a seer.)


text:
And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.


text:
<pb/>As they went up the hill to the city, <f>ⓚ</f>they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?”


text:
They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people <f>ⓛ</f>have a sacrifice today on <f>ⓜ</f>the high place.


text:
As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.”


text:
So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.


text:
“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, <f>ⓟ</f>and you shall anoint him to be prince <f>[3]</f> over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. <f>ⓠ</f>For I have seen <f>[4]</f> my people, because their cry has come to me.”


text:
When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, <f>ⓡ</f>“Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”


text:
Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind.


text:
<f>ⓢ</f> As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?”


text:
Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, <f>ⓣ</f>from the least of the tribes of Israel? <f>ⓤ</f>And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons.


text:
And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’”


text:
So the cook took up <f>ⓥ</f>the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.” <f>[5]</f> <pb/>So Saul ate with Samuel that day.


text:
And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul <f>ⓦ</f>on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. <f>[6]</f>


text:
Then at the break of dawn <f>[7]</f> Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.


text:
<pb/>As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head <f>ⓑ</f>and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince <f>[1]</f> over <f>ⓒ</f>his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince <f>[2]</f> over his heritage.


text:
When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by <f>ⓓ</f>Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, <f>ⓔ</f>‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now <f>ⓕ</f>your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’


text:
Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the <f>ⓖ</f>oak of Tabor. Three men <f>ⓗ</f>going up <f>ⓘ</f>to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.


text:
After that you shall come to <f>ⓙ</f>Gibeath-elohim, <f>[3]</f> <f>ⓚ</f>where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down <f>ⓛ</f>from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.


text:
<f>ⓜ</f> Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, <f>ⓝ</f>and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.


text:
Then go down before me <f>ⓠ</f>to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and <f>ⓡ</f>to sacrifice peace offerings. <f>ⓢ</f>Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”


text:
<pb/>When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.


text:
When they came to <f>ⓣ</f>Gibeah, <f>[4]</f> behold, a group of prophets met him, <f>ⓤ</f>and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.


text:
And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? <f>ⓥ</f>Is Saul also among the prophets?”


text:
And a man of the place answered, <f>ⓦ</f>“And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, <f>ⓧ</f>“Is Saul also among the prophets?”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓨ</f> Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, <f>ⓩ</f>“To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”


text:
And Saul said to his uncle, <f>ⓐ</f>“He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.


text:
And he said to the people of Israel, <f>ⓓ</f>“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’


text:
<f>ⓔ</f> But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore <f>ⓕ</f>present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel <f>ⓖ</f>brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.


text:
He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; <f>[5]</f> and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”


text:
Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, <f>ⓘ</f>he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.


text:
And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him <f>ⓙ</f>whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, <f>ⓚ</f>“Long live the king!”


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel told the people <f>ⓛ</f>the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.


text:
Saul also went to his home <f>ⓜ</f>at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.


text:
But some <f>ⓝ</f>worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged <f>ⓑ</f>Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, <f>ⓒ</f>“Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”


text:
But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, <f>ⓓ</f>that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus <f>ⓔ</f>bring disgrace on all Israel.”


text:
The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.”


text:
When the messengers came to <f>ⓕ</f>Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, <f>ⓖ</f>and all the people wept aloud.


text:
<pb/>Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.


text:
He took a yoke of oxen <f>ⓘ</f>and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, <f>ⓙ</f>“Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out <f>ⓚ</f>as one man.


text:
When he mustered them at <f>ⓛ</f>Bezek, <f>ⓜ</f>the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.


text:
And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have <f>ⓝ</f>salvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.


text:
Therefore the men of Jabesh said, <f>ⓞ</f>“Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> And the next day Saul put the people <f>ⓠ</f>in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.


text:
<pb/>Then the people said to Samuel, <f>ⓡ</f>“Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ <f>ⓢ</f>Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”


text:
But Saul said, <f>ⓣ</f>“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today <f>ⓤ</f>the LORD has worked <f>ⓥ</f>salvation in Israel.”


text:
So all the people went to <f>ⓦ</f>Gilgal, and there they made Saul king <f>ⓧ</f>before the LORD in Gilgal. There <f>ⓨ</f>they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.


text:
<pb/>And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed <f>ⓐ</f>your voice in all that you have said to me <f>ⓑ</f>and have made a king over you.


text:
And now, behold, the king <f>ⓒ</f>walks before you, <f>ⓓ</f>and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.


text:
Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before <f>ⓔ</f>his anointed. <f>ⓕ</f>Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me <f>[1]</f> and I will restore it to you.”


text:
And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and <f>ⓖ</f>his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything <f>ⓗ</f>in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”


text:
<pb/>And Samuel said to the people, <f>ⓘ</f>“The LORD is witness, <f>[2]</f> who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.


text:
Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, <f>[3]</f> <f>ⓚ</f>then your fathers cried out to the LORD and <f>ⓛ</f>the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, <f>ⓜ</f>who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.


text:
But <f>ⓝ</f>they forgot the LORD their God. <f>ⓞ</f>And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, <f>[4]</f> <f>ⓟ</f>and into the hand of the Philistines, <f>ⓠ</f>and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD <f>ⓢ</f>and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now <f>ⓣ</f>deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’


text:
And the LORD sent <f>ⓤ</f>Jerubbaal <f>ⓥ</f>and Barak <f>[5]</f> <f>ⓦ</f>and Jephthah and <f>ⓧ</f>Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.


text:
And when you saw that <f>ⓨ</f>Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, <f>ⓩ</f>you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ <f>ⓐ</f>when the LORD your God was your king.


text:
And now <f>ⓑ</f>behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, <f>ⓒ</f>the LORD has set a king over you.


text:
If you will <f>ⓓ</f>fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.


text:
But <f>ⓔ</f>if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then <f>ⓕ</f>the hand of the LORD will be against you and <f>ⓖ</f>your king. <f>[6]</f>


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> Is it not wheat harvest today? <f>ⓙ</f>I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that <f>ⓚ</f>your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.”


text:
So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, <f>ⓛ</f>and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.


text:
<pb/>And all the people said to Samuel, <f>ⓜ</f>“Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”


text:
And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet <f>ⓝ</f>do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.


text:
And <f>ⓞ</f>do not turn aside after <f>ⓟ</f>empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> For the LORD will not forsake his people, <f>ⓡ</f>for his great name's sake, because <f>ⓢ</f>it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.


text:
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing <f>ⓣ</f>to pray for you, <f>ⓤ</f>and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.


text:
<f>ⓥ</f> Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider <f>ⓦ</f>what great things he has done for you.


text:
<pb/>Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, <f>[1]</f>


text:
Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in <f>ⓐ</f>Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in <f>ⓑ</f>Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.


text:
Jonathan defeated <f>ⓒ</f>the garrison of the Philistines that was <f>ⓓ</f>at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul <f>ⓔ</f>blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”


text:
And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.


text:
<pb/>And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops <f>ⓕ</f>like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of <f>ⓖ</f>Beth-aven.


text:
When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves <f>ⓗ</f>in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns,


text:
and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓘ</f> He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.


text:
So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.


text:
As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.


text:
Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,


text:
I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”


text:
And Samuel said to Saul, <f>ⓙ</f>“You have done foolishly. <f>ⓚ</f>You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.


text:
But now <f>ⓛ</f>your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man <f>ⓜ</f>after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince <f>[2]</f> over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”


text:
And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal <f>[3]</f> to <f>ⓝ</f>Gibeah of Benjamin. <pb/>And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, <f>ⓞ</f>about six hundred men.


text:
And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in <f>ⓟ</f>Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.


text:
And <f>ⓠ</f>raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual;


text:
another company turned toward <f>ⓡ</f>Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of <f>ⓢ</f>Zeboim toward the wilderness.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.”


text:
But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, <f>[4]</f>


text:
and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel <f>[5]</f> for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel <f>[6]</f> for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. <f>[7]</f>


text:
So on the day of the battle <f>ⓤ</f>there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.


text:
<pb/>One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.


text:
Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave <f>[1]</f> at <f>ⓐ</f>Migron. The people who were with him were about <f>ⓑ</f>six hundred men,


text:
including <f>ⓒ</f>Ahijah the son of Ahitub, <f>ⓓ</f>Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD <f>ⓔ</f>in Shiloh, <f>ⓕ</f>wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.


text:
Within <f>ⓖ</f>the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.


text:
The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of <f>ⓗ</f>Geba.


text:
<pb/>Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these <f>ⓘ</f>uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, <f>ⓙ</f>for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”


text:
And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. <f>[2]</f> Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”


text:
If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.


text:
But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”


text:
So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming <f>ⓚ</f>out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”


text:
And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”


text:
Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.


text:
And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre <f>[3]</f> of land.


text:
And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even <f>ⓛ</f>the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. <f>[4]</f>


text:
<pb/>And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude <f>ⓜ</f>was dispersing here and there. <f>[5]</f>


text:
Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.


text:
So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people <f>[6]</f> of Israel.


text:
Now <f>ⓝ</f>while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”


text:
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, <f>ⓞ</f>every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.


text:
Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, <f>ⓟ</f>even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.


text:
Likewise, when all the men of Israel <f>ⓠ</f>who had hidden themselves <f>ⓡ</f>in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle.


text:
<pb/>And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, <f>ⓤ</f>so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.


text:
And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.


text:
But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, <f>ⓥ</f>so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.


text:
Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were <f>ⓦ</f>faint.


text:
Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey.


text:
How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”


text:
<pb/>They struck down the Philistines that day from <f>ⓧ</f>Michmash to <f>ⓨ</f>Aijalon. And the people were very <f>ⓩ</f>faint.


text:
The people <f>ⓐ</f>pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them <f>ⓑ</f>with the blood.


text:
Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating <f>ⓒ</f>with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.” <f>[8]</f>


text:
And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there.


text:
<pb/>Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But <f>ⓔ</f>the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”


text:
And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” <f>ⓕ</f>But he did not answer him that day.


text:
And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today.


text:
For <f>ⓖ</f>as the LORD lives who saves Israel, <f>ⓗ</f>though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.


text:
Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”


text:
Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” <f>[9]</f> <f>ⓘ</f>And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped.


text:
<pb/>Then Saul said to Jonathan, <f>ⓚ</f>“Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, <f>ⓛ</f>“I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”


text:
Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! <f>ⓞ</f>As the LORD lives, <f>ⓟ</f>there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die.


text:
<pb/>When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, <f>ⓠ</f>against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of <f>ⓡ</f>Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.


text:
And he did valiantly <f>ⓢ</f>and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was <f>ⓤ</f>Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.


text:
And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. <f>ⓥ</f>And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, <f>ⓦ</f>Saul's uncle.


text:
<pb/>There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, <f>ⓩ</f>he attached him to himself.


text:
<pb/>And Samuel said to Saul, <f>ⓐ</f>“The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD.


text:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel <f>ⓑ</f>in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.


text:
Now go and strike Amalek and <f>ⓒ</f>devote to destruction <f>[1]</f> all that they have. Do not spare them, <f>ⓓ</f>but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”


text:
<pb/>So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah.


text:
Then Saul said to <f>ⓔ</f>the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. <f>ⓕ</f>For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> And Saul defeated the Amalekites from <f>ⓗ</f>Havilah as far as <f>ⓘ</f>Shur, which is east of Egypt.


text:
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive <f>ⓙ</f>and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves <f>[2]</f> and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> “I regret <f>[3]</f> that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and <f>ⓜ</f>has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night.


text:
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to <f>ⓝ</f>Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”


text:
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, <f>ⓞ</f>“Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”


text:
And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”


text:
Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, <f>ⓟ</f>for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”


text:
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”


text:
<pb/>And Samuel said, <f>ⓠ</f>“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.


text:
And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’


text:
Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? <f>ⓡ</f>Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”


text:
And Saul said to Samuel, <f>ⓢ</f>“I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.


text:
<f>ⓣ</f> But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”


text:
And Samuel said, <pb/><t><f>ⓤ</f>“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, </t><t>as in obeying the voice of the LORD? </t><t>Behold, <f>ⓥ</f>to obey is better than sacrifice, </t><t>and to listen than the fat of rams.</t>


text:
<t>For rebellion is as the sin of divination, </t><t>and presumption is as iniquity and <f>ⓦ</f>idolatry. </t><t>Because <f>ⓧ</f>you have rejected the word of the LORD, </t><t><f>ⓨ</f>he has also rejected you from being king.” </t>


text:
<pb/>Saul said to Samuel, <f>ⓩ</f>“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.


text:
And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. <f>ⓑ</f>For you have rejected the word of the LORD, <f>ⓒ</f>and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”


text:
And Samuel said to him, <f>ⓔ</f>“The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.


text:
And also the Glory of Israel <f>ⓕ</f>will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”


text:
Then he said, “I have sinned; yet <f>ⓖ</f>honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, <f>ⓗ</f>and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.”


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. <f>[4]</f> Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”


text:
And Samuel said, <f>ⓘ</f>“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD <f>ⓙ</f>in Gilgal.


text:
<f>ⓜ</f> And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, <f>ⓝ</f>but Samuel grieved over Saul. <f>ⓞ</f>And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.


text:
<pb/>The LORD said to Samuel, <f>ⓐ</f>“How long will you grieve over Saul, since <f>ⓑ</f>I have rejected him from being king over Israel? <f>ⓒ</f>Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, <f>ⓓ</f>for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”


text:
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, <f>ⓔ</f>‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’


text:
And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. <f>ⓕ</f>And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”


text:
Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city <f>ⓖ</f>came to meet him trembling and said, <f>ⓗ</f>“Do you come peaceably?”


text:
And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. <f>ⓘ</f>Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.


text:
<pb/>When they came, he looked on <f>ⓙ</f>Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.”


text:
But the LORD said to Samuel, <f>ⓚ</f>“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, <f>ⓛ</f>but the LORD looks on the heart.”


text:
Then Jesse called <f>ⓜ</f>Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”


text:
And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”


text:
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, <f>ⓞ</f>“There remains yet the youngest, <f>[1]</f> but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, <f>ⓟ</f>“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”


text:
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was <f>ⓠ</f>ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, <f>ⓡ</f>“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”


text:
Then Samuel took <f>ⓢ</f>the horn of oil <f>ⓣ</f>and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. <f>ⓤ</f>And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓥ</f> Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, <f>ⓦ</f>and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.


text:
Let our lord now command your servants <f>ⓧ</f>who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will <f>ⓨ</f>play it, and you will be well.”


text:
One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, <f>ⓩ</f>a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, <f>ⓐ</f>and the LORD is with him.”


text:
Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, <f>ⓑ</f>who is with the sheep.”


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.


text:
And David came to Saul <f>ⓓ</f>and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.


text:
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”


text:
And <f>ⓔ</f>whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre <f>ⓕ</f>and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.


text:
<pb/>Now the Philistines <f>ⓐ</f>gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at <f>ⓑ</f>Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and <f>ⓒ</f>Azekah, in <f>ⓓ</f>Ephes-dammim.


text:
And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in <f>ⓔ</f>the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.


text:
And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.


text:
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named <f>ⓕ</f>Goliath of <f>ⓖ</f>Gath, whose height was six <f>[1]</f> cubits <f>[2]</f> and a span.


text:
He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels <f>[3]</f> of bronze.


text:
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. <f>ⓘ</f>And his shield-bearer went before him.


text:
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and <f>ⓙ</f>are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.


text:
If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants <f>ⓚ</f>and serve us.”


text:
And the Philistine said, <f>ⓛ</f>“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.”


text:
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.


text:
<pb/>Now David was <f>ⓜ</f>the son of an <f>ⓝ</f>Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, <f>ⓞ</f>named Jesse, <f>ⓟ</f>who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. <f>[4]</f>


text:
The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And <f>ⓠ</f>the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.


text:
<pb/>And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah <f>[5]</f> of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.


text:
<f>ⓣ</f> Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. <f>ⓤ</f>See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”


text:
<pb/>Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.


text:
And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to <f>ⓥ</f>the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.


text:
And David left the <f>ⓦ</f>things in charge of the keeper of the <f>ⓧ</f>baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.


text:
As he talked with them, behold, <f>ⓨ</f>the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke <f>ⓩ</f>the same words as before. And David heard him.


text:
And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to <f>ⓐ</f>defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches <f>ⓑ</f>and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.”


text:
And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away <f>ⓒ</f>the reproach from Israel? For who is this <f>ⓓ</f>uncircumcised Philistine, that he should <f>ⓔ</f>defy the armies of <f>ⓕ</f>the living God?”


text:
And the people answered him in the same way, <f>ⓖ</f>“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”


text:
<pb/>Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”


text:
And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke <f>ⓗ</f>in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.


text:
<pb/>When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.


text:
And David said to Saul, <f>ⓘ</f>“Let no man's heart fail because of him. <f>ⓙ</f>Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”


text:
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”


text:
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,


text:
I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.


text:
Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, <f>ⓚ</f>for he has defied the armies of the living God.”


text:
And David said, <f>ⓛ</f>“The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, <f>ⓜ</f>and the LORD be with you!”


text:
<pb/>Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,


text:
and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.


text:
Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.


text:
<pb/>And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, <f>ⓝ</f>with his shield-bearer in front of him.


text:
And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, <f>ⓞ</f>ruddy and handsome in appearance.


text:
And the Philistine said to David, “Am I <f>ⓟ</f>a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.


text:
The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh <f>ⓠ</f>to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”


text:
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with <f>ⓡ</f>a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, <f>ⓢ</f>whom you have defied.


text:
This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. <f>ⓣ</f>And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day <f>ⓤ</f>to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, <f>ⓥ</f>that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,


text:
and that all this assembly may know that <f>ⓦ</f>the LORD saves not with sword and spear. <f>ⓧ</f>For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.”


text:
<pb/>When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.


text:
And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.


text:
<pb/>So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.


text:
Then David ran and stood over the Philistine <f>ⓨ</f>and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, <f>ⓩ</f>they fled.


text:
And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath <f>[6]</f> and the gates of <f>ⓐ</f>Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from <f>ⓑ</f>Shaaraim as far as <f>ⓒ</f>Gath and Ekron.


text:
And David took <f>ⓓ</f>the head of the Philistine <f>ⓔ</f>and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.


text:
<pb/>As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, <f>ⓕ</f>the commander of the army, “Abner, <f>ⓖ</f>whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, <f>ⓗ</f>“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”


text:
And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul <f>ⓘ</f>with the head of the Philistine in his hand.


text:
And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, <f>ⓙ</f>“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”


text:
<pb/>As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan <f>ⓐ</f>loved him as his own soul.


text:
And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.


text:
And David went out <f>ⓓ</f>and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.


text:
<pb/>As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, <f>ⓔ</f>the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. <f>[1]</f>


text:
And the women <f>ⓕ</f>sang to one another as they celebrated, <pb/><t><f>ⓖ</f>“Saul has struck down his thousands, </t><t>and David his ten thousands.” </t>


text:
<pb/>And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but <f>ⓗ</f>the kingdom?”


text:
<pb/>The next day <f>ⓘ</f>a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and <f>ⓙ</f>he raved within his house while David was <f>ⓚ</f>playing the lyre, as he did day by day. <f>ⓛ</f>Saul had his spear in his hand.


text:
And Saul <f>ⓜ</f>hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓝ</f> Saul was afraid of David because <f>ⓞ</f>the LORD was with him <f>ⓟ</f>but had departed from Saul.


text:
So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. <f>ⓠ</f>And he went out and came in before the people.


text:
<pb/>Then Saul said to David, “Here is <f>ⓥ</f>my elder daughter Merab. <f>ⓦ</f>I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me <f>ⓧ</f>and fight the LORD's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, <f>ⓨ</f>but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”


text:
And David said to Saul, <f>ⓩ</f>“Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”


text:
But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to <f>ⓐ</f>Adriel the <f>ⓑ</f>Meholathite for a wife.


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓒ</f>Saul's daughter Michal <f>ⓓ</f>loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.


text:
Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may <f>ⓔ</f>be a snare for him <f>ⓕ</f>and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, <f>[2]</f> <f>ⓖ</f>“You shall now be my son-in-law.”


text:
And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’”


text:
And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, <f>ⓗ</f>“Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?”


text:
Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no <f>ⓘ</f>bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, <f>ⓙ</f>that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” <f>ⓚ</f>Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.


text:
And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. <f>ⓛ</f>Before the time had expired,


text:
David arose and went, <f>ⓜ</f>along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. <f>ⓝ</f>And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.


text:
But when Saul saw and knew that <f>ⓞ</f>the LORD was with David, <f>ⓟ</f>and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him,


text:
<pb/><f>ⓠ</f> Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out <f>ⓡ</f>David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.


text:
<pb/>And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. <f>ⓐ</f>But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.


text:
And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself.


text:
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.”


text:
And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king <f>ⓑ</f>sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you.


text:
For <f>ⓒ</f>he took his life in his hand <f>ⓓ</f>and he struck down the Philistine, <f>ⓔ</f>and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against <f>ⓕ</f>innocent blood by killing David without cause?”


text:
And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, <f>ⓖ</f>“As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”


text:
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence <f>ⓗ</f>as before.


text:
<pb/>And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him.


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. <f>ⓙ</f>And David was playing the lyre.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓛ</f> Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”


text:
Michal took <f>ⓝ</f>an image <f>[1]</f> and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes.


text:
Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”


text:
And when the messengers came in, behold, <f>ⓞ</f>the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head.


text:
Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. <f>ⓟ</f>Why should I kill you?’”


text:
<pb/>Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at <f>ⓠ</f>Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth.


text:
Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, <f>ⓡ</f>the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, <f>ⓢ</f>and they also prophesied.


text:
When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, <f>ⓣ</f>and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, <f>ⓤ</f>and they also prophesied.


text:
Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in <f>ⓥ</f>Ramah.”


text:
And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. <f>ⓦ</f>And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, <f>ⓨ</f>“Is Saul also among the prophets?”


text:
<pb/>Then David fled from Naioth <f>ⓐ</f>in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”


text:
And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.”


text:
But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that <f>ⓑ</f>I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, <f>ⓒ</f>as the LORD lives and <f>ⓓ</f>as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”


text:
David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is <f>ⓔ</f>the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, <f>ⓕ</f>that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run <f>ⓗ</f>to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly <f>ⓘ</f>sacrifice there for all the clan.’


text:
If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that <f>ⓙ</f>harm is determined by him.


text:
Therefore deal kindly with your servant, <f>ⓚ</f>for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. <f>ⓛ</f>But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”


text:
And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that <f>ⓜ</f>it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?”


text:
And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.


text:
<pb/>And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! <f>[1]</f> When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you?


text:
But should it please my father to do you harm, <f>ⓝ</f>the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. <f>ⓞ</f>May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> and do not cut off <f>[2]</f> your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”


text:
And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, <f>ⓠ</f>“May <f>[3]</f> the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.”


text:
And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, <f>ⓡ</f>for he loved him as he loved his own soul.


text:
<pb/>Then Jonathan said to him, <f>ⓢ</f>“Tomorrow is the new moon, and <f>ⓣ</f>you will be missed, because <f>ⓤ</f>your seat will be empty.


text:
On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. <f>[4]</f>


text:
And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, <f>ⓥ</f>as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.


text:
But if I say to the youth, <f>ⓦ</f>‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, <f>ⓨ</f>the LORD is between you and me forever.”


text:
The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, <f>[5]</f> and Abner sat by Saul's side, <f>ⓩ</f>but David's place was empty.


text:
<pb/>Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. <f>ⓐ</f>He is not clean; surely he is not clean.”


text:
But on <f>ⓑ</f>the second day, the day after the new moon, <f>ⓒ</f>David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”


text:
He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.”


text:
<pb/>Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?


text:
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew <f>ⓖ</f>that his father was determined to put David to death.


text:
And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.


text:
<pb/>In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy.


text:
And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.


text:
And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, <f>ⓗ</f>“Is not the arrow beyond you?”


text:
And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.


text:
And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap <f>[6]</f> and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most.


text:
Then Jonathan said to David, <f>ⓘ</f>“Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, <f>ⓙ</f>‘The LORD shall be between me and you, <f>ⓚ</f>and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. <f>[7]</f>


text:
<pb/><f>[1]</f> Then David came to <f>ⓐ</f>Nob, to <f>ⓑ</f>Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech <f>ⓒ</f>came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”


text:
And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.


text:
And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is <f>ⓓ</f>holy bread — <f>ⓔ</f>if the young men have kept themselves from women.”


text:
And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”


text:
So the priest gave him <f>ⓕ</f>the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, <f>ⓖ</f>which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.


text:
<pb/>Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was <f>ⓗ</f>Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.


text:
<pb/>Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.”


text:
And the priest said, <f>ⓘ</f>“The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in <f>ⓙ</f>the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”


text:
And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? <f>ⓛ</f>Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, <pb/><t>‘Saul has struck down his thousands, </t><t>and David his ten thousands’?” </t>


text:
So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.


text:
Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me?


text:
Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”


text:
<pb/>David departed from there and escaped to <f>ⓐ</f>the cave of <f>ⓑ</f>Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.


text:
<f>ⓒ</f> And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, <f>[1]</f> gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him <f>ⓓ</f>about four hundred men.


text:
<pb/>And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay <f>[2]</f> with you, till I know what God will do for me.”


text:
And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.


text:
Then the prophet <f>ⓔ</f>Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.


text:
<pb/>Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under <f>ⓕ</f>the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.


text:
And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse <f>ⓖ</f>give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,


text:
that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me <f>ⓗ</f>when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you <f>ⓘ</f>is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, <f>ⓙ</f>to lie in wait, as at this day.”


text:
Then answered <f>ⓚ</f>Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse <f>ⓛ</f>coming to Nob, to <f>ⓜ</f>Ahimelech the son of Ahitub,


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> and he inquired of the LORD for him and <f>ⓞ</f>gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”


text:
<pb/>Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king.


text:
And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and <f>ⓟ</f>have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, <f>ⓠ</f>to lie in wait, as at this day?”


text:
Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over <f>[3]</f> your bodyguard, and honored in your house?


text:
Is today the first time <f>ⓡ</f>that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, <f>ⓢ</f>much or little.”


text:
And the king said to <f>ⓣ</f>the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD.


text:
Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, <f>ⓤ</f>and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.


text:
And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; <f>ⓥ</f>both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.


text:
<pb/>But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named <f>ⓦ</f>Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.


text:
And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, <f>ⓧ</f>when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house.


text:
<f>ⓨ</f> Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”


text:
<pb/>Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against <f>ⓐ</f>Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”


text:
Therefore David <f>ⓑ</f>inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”


text:
But David's men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”


text:
Then David <f>ⓒ</f>inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, <f>ⓓ</f>for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”


text:
And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓔ</f> When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.


text:
Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”


text:
David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, <f>ⓕ</f>“Bring the ephod here.”


text:
Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.


text:
Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”


text:
Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, <f>ⓖ</f>“They will surrender you.”


text:
Then David and his men, <f>ⓗ</f>who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went <f>ⓘ</f>wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.


text:
And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country <f>ⓙ</f>of the wilderness of <f>ⓚ</f>Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.


text:
<pb/>David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.


text:
And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. <f>ⓛ</f>Saul my father also knows this.”


text:
<f>ⓜ</f> And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓝ</f> Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of <f>ⓞ</f>Jeshimon?


text:
Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, <f>ⓟ</f>and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.”


text:
Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning.


text:
See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”


text:
And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. <pb/>Now David and his men were <f>ⓢ</f>in the wilderness of Maon, <f>ⓣ</f>in the Arabah to the south of <f>ⓤ</f>Jeshimon.


text:
And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.


text:
Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them,


text:
a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.”


text:
So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. <f>[1]</f>


text:
<pb/><f>[1]</f> <f>ⓐ</f>When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”


text:
Then Saul took <f>ⓑ</f>three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks.


text:
And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in <f>ⓒ</f>to relieve himself. <f>[2]</f> Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts <f>ⓓ</f>of the cave.


text:
And the men of David said to him, <f>ⓔ</f>“Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe.


text:
He said to his men, <f>ⓖ</f>“The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is <f>ⓗ</f>the LORD's anointed.”


text:
So David persuaded his men with these words <f>ⓘ</f>and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.


text:
<pb/>Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.


text:
And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’?


text:
Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. <f>ⓙ</f>And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. <f>[3]</f> I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, <f>ⓚ</f>for he is the LORD's anointed.’


text:
See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that <f>ⓛ</f>there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though <f>ⓜ</f>you hunt my life to take it.


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.


text:
As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.


text:
After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? <f>ⓞ</f>After a dead dog! <f>ⓟ</f>After a flea!


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and <f>ⓡ</f>plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”


text:
<pb/>As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, <f>ⓢ</f>“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.


text:
He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, <f>ⓣ</f>for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.


text:
And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands.


text:
For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.


text:
And now, behold, <f>ⓤ</f>I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.


text:
<f>ⓥ</f> Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and <f>ⓦ</f>that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.”


text:
And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up <f>ⓧ</f>to the stronghold.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled <f>ⓑ</f>and mourned for him, and they buried him <f>ⓒ</f>in his house at <f>ⓓ</f>Ramah. <pb/><e>David and Abigail</e> </pb> <pb/>Then David rose and went down to <f>ⓔ</f>the wilderness of Paran.


text:
And there was a man in <f>ⓕ</f>Maon whose business was in <f>ⓖ</f>Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. <f>ⓗ</f>He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.


text:
Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; <f>ⓘ</f>he was a Calebite.


text:
So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.


text:
And thus you shall greet him: <f>ⓚ</f>‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.


text:
I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, <f>ⓛ</f>and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel.


text:
Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come <f>ⓜ</f>on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”


text:
<pb/>When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.


text:
And Nabal answered David's servants, <f>ⓝ</f>“Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? <f>ⓞ</f>There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.


text:
Shall I take <f>ⓟ</f>my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to <f>ⓠ</f>men who come from I do not know where?”


text:
And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And <f>ⓡ</f>about four hundred men went up after David, <f>ⓢ</f>while two hundred <f>ⓣ</f>remained with the baggage.


text:
<pb/>But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.


text:
Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, <f>ⓤ</f>and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them.


text:
They were <f>ⓥ</f>a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.


text:
Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, <f>ⓦ</f>for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such <f>ⓧ</f>a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”


text:
<pb/>Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs <f>[1]</f> of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.


text:
And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.


text:
And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.


text:
Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, <f>ⓨ</f>so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has <f>ⓩ</f>returned me evil for good.


text:
<f>ⓐ</f> God do so to the enemies of David <f>[2]</f> and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”


text:
<pb/>When Abigail saw David, she hurried <f>ⓑ</f>and got down from the donkey <f>ⓒ</f>and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.


text:
She fell at his feet and said, <f>ⓓ</f>“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.


text:
Let not my lord regard <f>ⓔ</f>this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal <f>[3]</f> is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.


text:
Now then, my lord, <f>ⓕ</f>as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because <f>ⓖ</f>the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from <f>ⓗ</f>saving with your own hand, now then <f>ⓘ</f>let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.


text:
And now let this <f>ⓙ</f>present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.


text:
Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord <f>ⓚ</f>a sure house, because my lord <f>ⓛ</f>is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.


text:
If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies <f>ⓜ</f>he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.


text:
And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince <f>[4]</f> over Israel,


text:
my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord <f>ⓝ</f>working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”


text:
<pb/>And David said to Abigail, <f>ⓞ</f>“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!


text:
Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, <f>ⓟ</f>who have kept me this day from bloodguilt <f>ⓠ</f>and from working salvation with my own hand!


text:
For as surely <f>ⓡ</f>as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, <f>ⓢ</f>who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.”


text:
Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, <f>ⓣ</f>“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”


text:
<pb/>And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, <f>ⓤ</f>he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart <f>ⓥ</f>was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing <f>ⓦ</f>at all until the morning light.


text:
In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.


text:
<pb/>When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, <f>ⓨ</f>“Blessed be the LORD who has <f>ⓩ</f>avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, <f>ⓐ</f>and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. <f>ⓑ</f>The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and <f>ⓒ</f>spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife.


text:
When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.”


text:
And she rose <f>ⓓ</f>and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”


text:
And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?”


text:
So Saul arose and went down to <f>ⓑ</f>the wilderness of Ziph with <f>ⓒ</f>three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.


text:
And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness,


text:
Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with <f>ⓓ</f>Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within <f>ⓔ</f>the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.


text:
<pb/>Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother <f>ⓕ</f>Abishai the son of Zeruiah, <f>ⓖ</f>“Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”


text:
So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within <f>ⓗ</f>the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground <f>ⓘ</f>at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him.


text:
Then Abishai said to David, <f>ⓙ</f>“God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”


text:
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand <f>ⓚ</f>against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?”


text:
And David said, <f>ⓛ</f>“As the LORD lives, <f>ⓜ</f>the LORD will strike him, or <f>ⓝ</f>his day will come to die, <f>ⓞ</f>or he will go down into battle and perish.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed. But take now the spear that is <f>ⓠ</f>at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.”


text:
So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because <f>ⓡ</f>a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them.


text:
<pb/>Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them.


text:
And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?”


text:
And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord.


text:
This thing that you have done is not good. <f>ⓢ</f>As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was <f>ⓣ</f>at his head.”


text:
<pb/>Saul recognized David's voice and said, <f>ⓤ</f>“Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”


text:
And he said, <f>ⓥ</f>“Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands?


text:
Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the LORD who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the LORD, <f>ⓦ</f>for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in <f>ⓧ</f>the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’


text:
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD, for the king of Israel has come out to seek <f>ⓨ</f>a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”


text:
<pb/>Then Saul said, <f>ⓩ</f>“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.”


text:
And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it.


text:
<f>ⓐ</f> The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the LORD gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the LORD's anointed.


text:
Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”


text:
Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will <f>ⓑ</f>succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.


text:
<pb/>Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”


text:
So David arose and went over, he and <f>ⓐ</f>the six hundred men who were with him, <f>ⓑ</f>to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.


text:
And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with <f>ⓒ</f>his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.


text:
<pb/>Then David said to Achish, “If <f>ⓓ</f>I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”


text:
So that day Achish gave him <f>ⓔ</f>Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.


text:
<pb/>Now David <f>ⓖ</f>and his men went up and made raids against <f>ⓗ</f>the Geshurites, <f>ⓘ</f>the Girzites, and <f>ⓙ</f>the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, <f>ⓚ</f>as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.


text:
And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.


text:
When Achish asked, “Where have you <f>ⓛ</f>made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of <f>ⓜ</f>the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of <f>ⓝ</f>the Kenites.”


text:
And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines.


text:
And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”


text:
<pb/>In those days <f>ⓐ</f>the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.”


text:
David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓑ</f>Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him <f>ⓒ</f>in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put <f>ⓓ</f>the mediums and the necromancers out of the land.


text:
The Philistines assembled and came and encamped <f>ⓔ</f>at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped <f>ⓕ</f>at Gilboa.


text:
And when Saul inquired of the LORD, <f>ⓖ</f>the LORD did not answer him, either <f>ⓗ</f>by dreams, or <f>ⓘ</f>by Urim, or by prophets.


text:
Then Saul said to his servants, <f>ⓙ</f>“Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at <f>ⓚ</f>En-dor.”


text:
<pb/>So Saul <f>ⓛ</f>disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, <f>ⓜ</f>“Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.”


text:
The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, <f>ⓝ</f>how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?”


text:
But Saul swore to her by the LORD, <f>ⓞ</f>“As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”


text:
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.”


text:
The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”


text:
He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped <f>ⓟ</f>in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.


text:
<pb/>Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and <f>ⓠ</f>God has turned away from me and <f>ⓡ</f>answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.”


text:
The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for <f>ⓢ</f>the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.


text:
<f>ⓣ</f> Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day.


text:
Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you <f>ⓤ</f>and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”


text:
<pb/>Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.


text:
And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. <f>ⓥ</f>I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.


text:
Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”


text:
He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.


text:
Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it,


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at <f>ⓑ</f>Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by <f>ⓒ</f>the spring that is in <f>ⓓ</f>Jezreel.


text:
As <f>ⓔ</f>the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear <f>ⓕ</f>with Achish,


text:
the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me <f>ⓖ</f>now for days and years, and since he deserted to me <f>ⓗ</f>I have found no fault in him to this day.”


text:
But <f>ⓘ</f>the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return <f>ⓙ</f>to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, <f>ⓚ</f>lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?


text:
Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, <pb/><t><f>ⓛ</f>‘Saul has struck down his thousands, </t><t>and David his ten thousands’?” </t>


text:
<pb/>Then Achish called David and said to him, <f>ⓜ</f>“As the LORD lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that <f>ⓝ</f>you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you.


text:
And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”


text:
And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight <f>ⓞ</f>as an angel of God. Nevertheless, <f>ⓟ</f>the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’


text:
Now then rise early in the morning <f>ⓠ</f>with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.”


text:
So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to <f>ⓡ</f>Jezreel.


text:
<pb/>Now when David and his men came to <f>ⓐ</f>Ziklag on the third day, <f>ⓑ</f>the Amalekites had <f>ⓒ</f>made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire


text:
and taken captive the women and all <f>[1]</f> who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.


text:
And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.


text:
Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.


text:
David's <f>ⓓ</f>two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.


text:
And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke <f>ⓔ</f>of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, <f>[2]</f> each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓕ</f> And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.


text:
<f>ⓖ</f> And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this <f>ⓗ</f>band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake <f>ⓘ</f>and shall surely rescue.”


text:
So David set out, and <f>ⓙ</f>the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.


text:
But David pursued, he and four hundred men. <f>ⓚ</f>Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.


text:
<pb/>They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,


text:
and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, <f>ⓛ</f>his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.


text:
And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.


text:
<f>ⓜ</f> We had made a raid against the Negeb of <f>ⓝ</f>the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”


text:
And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this <f>ⓞ</f>band.”


text:
<pb/>And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.


text:
And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.


text:
Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. <f>ⓠ</f>David brought back all.


text:
David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, <f>[3]</f> and said, “This is David's spoil.”


text:
<pb/>Then David came to <f>ⓡ</f>the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left <f>ⓢ</f>at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.


text:
Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”


text:
But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.


text:
Who would listen to you in this matter? <f>ⓣ</f>For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”


text:
<pb/>When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain <f>ⓑ</f>on Mount Gilboa.


text:
And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down <f>ⓒ</f>Jonathan and <f>ⓓ</f>Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.


text:
<f>ⓔ</f> The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these <f>ⓖ</f>uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, <f>ⓗ</f>for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword <f>ⓘ</f>and fell upon it.


text:
Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.


text:
And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.


text:
<pb/>The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.


text:
So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, <f>ⓙ</f>to carry the good news <f>ⓚ</f>to the house of their idols and to the people.


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> They put his armor in the temple of <f>ⓜ</f>Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of <f>ⓝ</f>Beth-shan.


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh <f>ⓠ</f>and burned them there.


text:
And they took their bones <f>ⓡ</f>and buried them under <f>ⓢ</f>the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and <f>ⓣ</f>fasted seven days.


text:
<pb/>After the death of Saul, when David had returned <f>ⓐ</f>from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.


text:
And on the third day, behold, <f>ⓑ</f>a man came from Saul's camp, <f>ⓒ</f>with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, <f>ⓓ</f>he fell to the ground and paid homage.


text:
David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”


text:
And David said to him, <f>ⓔ</f>“How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”


text:
Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”


text:
And the young man who told him said, <f>ⓕ</f>“By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him.


text:
And he said to me, <f>ⓖ</f>‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’


text:
So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. <f>ⓗ</f>And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”


text:
<pb/>Then David took hold of his clothes and <f>ⓘ</f>tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.


text:
And they mourned and wept <f>ⓙ</f>and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.


text:
And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.”


text:
David said to him, “How is it you were not <f>ⓚ</f>afraid to put out your hand to destroy <f>ⓛ</f>the LORD's anointed?”


text:
Then <f>ⓜ</f>David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died.


text:
And David said to him, <f>ⓝ</f>“Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed <f>ⓞ</f>the LORD's anointed.’”


text:
and he said it <f>[1]</f> should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in <f>ⓠ</f>the Book of Jashar. <f>[2]</f> He said:


text:
<pb/><t>“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! </t><t><f>ⓡ</f>How the mighty have fallen!</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓢ</f> Tell it not in Gath, </t><t><f>ⓣ</f>publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, </t><t><f>ⓤ</f>lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, </t><t>lest the daughters of <f>ⓥ</f>the uncircumcised exult. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓦ</f> “You mountains of Gilboa, </t><t>let there be no dew or rain upon you, </t><t>nor fields of offerings! <f>[3]</f> </t><t>For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, </t><t>the shield of Saul, not <f>ⓧ</f>anointed with oil. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“From the blood of the slain, </t><t>from the fat of the mighty, </t><t><f>ⓨ</f>the bow of Jonathan turned not back, </t><t>and the sword of Saul returned not empty. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! </t><t>In life and in death they were not divided; </t><t>they were <f>ⓩ</f>swifter than eagles; </t><t>they were <f>ⓐ</f>stronger than lions. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, </t><t>who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, </t><t><f>ⓑ</f>who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓒ</f> “How the mighty have fallen </t><t>in the midst of the battle! </t> <pb/><t>“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.</t>


text:
<t>I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; </t><t>very pleasant have you been to me; </t><t><f>ⓓ</f>your love to me was extraordinary, </t><t>surpassing the love of women. </t>


text:
<pb/>After this David <f>ⓐ</f>inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To <f>ⓑ</f>Hebron.”


text:
So David went up there, and <f>ⓒ</f>his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.


text:
And David brought up <f>ⓓ</f>his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron.


text:
And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David <f>ⓔ</f>king over the house of Judah. <pb/>When they told David, <f>ⓕ</f>“It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,”


text:
David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, <f>ⓖ</f>“May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him.


text:
Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.


text:
Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and <f>ⓗ</f>the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”


text:
<pb/>But <f>ⓘ</f>Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to <f>ⓙ</f>Mahanaim,


text:
and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel.


text:
Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> And the time that David was king in Hebron over <f>ⓛ</f>the house of Judah was seven years and six months.


text:
<pb/>Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.


text:
And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at <f>ⓜ</f>the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.


text:
And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”


text:
Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.


text:
And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, <f>[1]</f> which is at Gibeon.


text:
And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.


text:
<pb/>And the <f>ⓝ</f>three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was <f>ⓞ</f>as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.


text:
And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.


text:
Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.


text:
And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?”


text:
But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him <f>ⓟ</f>in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.


text:
<pb/>But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.


text:
And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill.


text:
Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?”


text:
And Joab said, “As God lives, if <f>ⓠ</f>you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.”


text:
So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.


text:
<pb/>And Abner and his men went all that night through <f>ⓡ</f>the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to <f>ⓢ</f>Mahanaim.


text:
Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David's servants nineteen men besides Asahel.


text:
And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.


text:
<pb/>There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of <f>ⓑ</f>Ahinoam of Jezreel;


text:
and his second, Chileab, of <f>ⓒ</f>Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah <f>ⓓ</f>the daughter of Talmai king of <f>ⓔ</f>Geshur;


text:
<pb/>While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.


text:
Now Saul had a concubine whose name was <f>ⓖ</f>Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, <f>ⓗ</f>“Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?”


text:
Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I <f>ⓘ</f>a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David <f>ⓚ</f>what the LORD has sworn to him,


text:
to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, <f>ⓛ</f>from Dan to Beersheba.”


text:
<pb/>And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, <f>[1]</f> saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.”


text:
And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, <f>ⓜ</f>you shall not see my face unless you first bring <f>ⓝ</f>Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.”


text:
Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, <f>ⓞ</f>for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”


text:
But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to <f>ⓟ</f>Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned.


text:
<pb/>And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, “For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you.


text:
Now then bring it about, <f>ⓠ</f>for the LORD has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’”


text:
Abner also spoke to <f>ⓡ</f>Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do.


text:
<pb/>When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.


text:
And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and <f>ⓢ</f>will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may <f>ⓣ</f>reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.


text:
<pb/>Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.


text:
When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace.”


text:
Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone?


text:
You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you and to know <f>ⓤ</f>your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”


text:
<pb/>When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it.


text:
And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, <f>ⓥ</f>and there he struck him <f>ⓦ</f>in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.


text:
Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without <f>ⓨ</f>one who has a discharge or who is <f>ⓩ</f>leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!”


text:
So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because <f>ⓐ</f>he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.


text:
<pb/>Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, <f>ⓑ</f>“Tear your clothes and <f>ⓒ</f>put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier.


text:
They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.


text:
And the king <f>ⓓ</f>lamented for Abner, saying, <pb/><t><f>ⓔ</f>“Should Abner die <f>ⓕ</f>as a fool dies?</t>


text:
<t>Your hands were not bound; </t><t>your feet were not fettered; </t><t>as one falls before the wicked </t><t>you have fallen.” </t> <pb/>And all the people wept again over him.


text:
Then all the people came <f>ⓖ</f>to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, <f>ⓗ</f>“God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else <f>ⓘ</f>till the sun goes down!”


text:
And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people.


text:
So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Ner.


text:
And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?


text:
And I was gentle today, though anointed king. <f>ⓙ</f>These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are more severe than I. <f>ⓚ</f>The LORD repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!”


text:
<pb/>When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, <f>ⓐ</f>his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.


text:
Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (<f>ⓑ</f>for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin;


text:
<pb/><f>ⓔ</f> Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan <f>ⓕ</f>came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.


text:
<pb/>Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest.


text:
And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him <f>ⓖ</f>in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. <f>[1]</f>


text:
When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of <f>ⓗ</f>the Arabah all night,


text:
and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, <f>ⓘ</f>who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”


text:
But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, <f>ⓙ</f>“As the LORD lives, <f>ⓚ</f>who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,


text:
<f>ⓛ</f> when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, <f>ⓜ</f>I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.


text:
How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now <f>ⓝ</f>require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”


text:
And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it <f>ⓞ</f>in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.


text:
<pb/>Then all the tribes of Israel <f>ⓐ</f>came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, <f>ⓑ</f>we are your bone and flesh.


text:
In times past, when Saul was king over us, <f>ⓒ</f>it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD said to you, <f>ⓓ</f>‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince <f>[1]</f> over Israel.’”


text:
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, <f>ⓔ</f>and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron <f>ⓕ</f>before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> At Hebron he reigned over Judah <f>ⓘ</f>seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. <f>[2]</f>


text:
<pb/><f>ⓙ</f> And the king and his men went to Jerusalem <f>ⓚ</f>against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off” — thinking, “David cannot come in here.”


text:
And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David's soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”


text:
And David lived in the stronghold and called it <f>ⓜ</f>the city of David. And David built the city all around from the <f>ⓝ</f>Millo inward.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓞ</f> And <f>ⓟ</f>Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house.


text:
And David knew that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.


text:
<pb/>And David took more <f>ⓠ</f>concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,


text:
<pb/>When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down <f>ⓢ</f>to the stronghold.


text:
And David <f>ⓤ</f>inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”


text:
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” <f>ⓥ</f>Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. <f>[3]</f>


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.


text:
And <f>ⓨ</f>when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, <f>ⓩ</f>for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”


text:
And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba <f>ⓐ</f>to Gezer.


text:
And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from <f>ⓑ</f>Baale-judah <f>ⓒ</f>to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts <f>ⓓ</f>who sits enthroned on the cherubim.


text:
And they carried the ark of God <f>ⓔ</f>on a new cart and brought it <f>ⓕ</f>out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, <f>[1]</f> the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart,


text:
<pb/>And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, with <f>ⓖ</f>songs <f>[3]</f> and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.


text:
And when they came to the threshing floor of <f>ⓗ</f>Nacon, Uzzah <f>ⓘ</f>put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.


text:
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and <f>ⓙ</f>God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.


text:
And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah <f>[4]</f> to this day.


text:
So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside <f>ⓚ</f>to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.


text:
And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, <f>ⓛ</f>and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.


text:
<pb/>And it was told King David, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” <f>ⓜ</f>So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom <f>ⓝ</f>to the city of David with rejoicing.


text:
And when <f>ⓞ</f>those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, <f>ⓟ</f>he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.


text:
And David <f>ⓠ</f>danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was <f>ⓡ</f>wearing a linen ephod.


text:
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.


text:
<pb/>As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.


text:
And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it <f>ⓢ</f>in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. <f>ⓣ</f>And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.


text:
And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, <f>ⓤ</f>he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts


text:
and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, <f>[5]</f> and a cake of raisins to each one. <f>ⓥ</f>Then all the people departed, each to his house.


text:
<pb/>And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, <f>ⓦ</f>uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the <f>ⓧ</f>vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”


text:
And David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, <f>ⓨ</f>who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince <f>[6]</f> over Israel, the people of the LORD — and I will celebrate before the LORD.


text:
I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your <f>[7]</f> eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD <f>ⓑ</f>had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,


text:
the king said to <f>ⓒ</f>Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell <f>ⓓ</f>in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells <f>ⓔ</f>in a tent.”


text:
I have not lived in a house <f>ⓗ</f>since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about <f>ⓘ</f>in a tent for my dwelling.


text:
In all places where <f>ⓙ</f>I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with <f>ⓚ</f>any of the judges <f>[1]</f> of Israel, whom I commanded <f>ⓛ</f>to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’


text:
Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, <f>ⓜ</f>I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince <f>[2]</f> over my people Israel.


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.


text:
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel <f>ⓞ</f>and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place <f>ⓟ</f>and be disturbed no more. <f>ⓠ</f>And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And <f>ⓢ</f>I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that <f>ⓣ</f>the LORD will make you a house.


text:
<f>ⓤ</f> When your days are fulfilled and <f>ⓥ</f>you lie down with your fathers, <f>ⓦ</f>I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


text:
<f>ⓧ</f> He shall build a house for my name, and <f>ⓨ</f>I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.


text:
<f>ⓩ</f> I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, <f>ⓐ</f>I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> but my steadfast love will not depart from him, <f>ⓒ</f>as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.


text:
<f>ⓓ</f> And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. <f>[3]</f> <f>ⓔ</f>Your throne shall be established forever.’”


text:
<pb/>Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, <f>ⓕ</f>“Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?


text:
And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. <f>ⓖ</f>You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD!


text:
Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.


text:
<f>ⓘ</f> Therefore you are great, O LORD God. <f>ⓙ</f>For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name <f>ⓛ</f>and doing for them <f>[4]</f> great and awesome things by driving out before your people, <f>[5]</f> whom <f>ⓜ</f>you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?


text:
<f>ⓝ</f> And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God.


text:
And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.


text:
And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.


text:
For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.


text:
And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and <f>ⓞ</f>your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.


text:
Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, <f>ⓟ</f>and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took <f>ⓑ</f>Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓒ</f> And 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 <f>ⓓ</f>became servants to David and <f>ⓔ</f>brought tribute.


text:
<pb/>David also defeated <f>ⓕ</f>Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of <f>ⓖ</f>Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates.


text:
<f>ⓗ</f> And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David <f>ⓘ</f>hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots.


text:
<f>ⓙ</f> And when the <f>ⓚ</f>Syrians of Damascus came to help <f>ⓛ</f>Hadadezer king of <f>ⓜ</f>Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.


text:
Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians <f>ⓝ</f>became servants to David and brought tribute. <f>ⓞ</f>And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.


text:
And David took <f>ⓟ</f>the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.


text:
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.


text:
<f>ⓡ</f> These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued,


text:
from Edom, <f>ⓢ</f>Moab, <f>ⓣ</f>the Ammonites, <f>ⓤ</f>the Philistines, <f>ⓥ</f>Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of <f>ⓦ</f>Zobah.


text:
<pb/>And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in <f>ⓧ</f>the Valley of Salt.


text:
Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, <f>ⓨ</f>and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.


text:
<f>ⓩ</f> Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and <f>ⓐ</f>Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder,


text:
and <f>ⓑ</f>Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and <f>ⓒ</f>Seraiah was secretary,


text:
and <f>ⓓ</f>Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over <f>[1]</f> the <f>ⓔ</f>Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.


text:
<pb/>And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may <f>ⓐ</f>show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?”


text:
Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was <f>ⓑ</f>Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”


text:
And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show <f>ⓒ</f>the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of <f>ⓓ</f>Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”


text:
The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of <f>ⓔ</f>Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”


text:
And <f>ⓕ</f>Mephibosheth 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.”


text:
And David said to him, “Do not fear, <f>ⓖ</f>for 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 <f>ⓗ</f>you shall eat at my table always.”


text:
And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for <f>ⓘ</f>a dead dog such as I?”


text:
<pb/>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.


text:
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 <f>ⓙ</f>shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had <f>ⓚ</f>fifteen sons and twenty servants.


text:
Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth <f>ⓛ</f>ate at David's <f>[1]</f> table, like one of the king's sons.


text:
And Mephibosheth had a young son, <f>ⓜ</f>whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants.


text:
So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for <f>ⓝ</f>he ate always at the king's table. Now <f>ⓞ</f>he was lame in both his feet.


text:
And David said, “I will deal loyally <f>[1]</f> with Hanun the son of <f>ⓑ</f>Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites.


text:
But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?”


text:
So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, <f>ⓒ</f>at their hips, and sent them away.


text:
When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”


text:
<pb/>When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of <f>ⓓ</f>Beth-rehob, and <f>ⓔ</f>the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of <f>ⓕ</f>Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of <f>ⓖ</f>Tob, 12,000 men.


text:
And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and <f>ⓘ</f>the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and <f>ⓙ</f>the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.


text:
<pb/>When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians.


text:
The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites.


text:
And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> Be of good courage, and <f>ⓛ</f>let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and <f>ⓜ</f>may the LORD do what seems good to him.”


text:
So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.


text:
And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together.


text:
And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond <f>ⓝ</f>the Euphrates. <f>[2]</f> They came to Helam, with <f>ⓞ</f>Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head.


text:
And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him.


text:
And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded <f>ⓟ</f>Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there.


text:
And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel <f>ⓠ</f>and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> <f>ⓑ</f>In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged <f>ⓒ</f>Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on <f>ⓓ</f>the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.


text:
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this <f>ⓔ</f>Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of <f>ⓕ</f>Uriah the Hittite?”


text:
So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (<f>ⓖ</f>Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.


text:
When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.


text:
Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and <f>ⓗ</f>wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.


text:
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.


text:
When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”


text:
Uriah said to David, <f>ⓘ</f>“The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and <f>ⓙ</f>the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and <f>ⓚ</f>as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”


text:
Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.


text:
And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, <f>ⓛ</f>so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with <f>ⓜ</f>the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.


text:
In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, <f>ⓞ</f>that he may be struck down, and die.”


text:
And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.


text:
And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.


text:
And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king,


text:
then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?


text:
<f>ⓟ</f> Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”


text:
The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.


text:
Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”


text:
David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”


text:
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and <f>ⓠ</f>she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.


text:
<pb/>And the LORD sent <f>ⓐ</f>Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, <f>ⓑ</f>“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.


text:
but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, <f>[1]</f> and it was like a daughter to him.


text:
Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”


text:
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, <f>ⓒ</f>“As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,


text:
and he shall restore the lamb <f>ⓓ</f>fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”


text:
<pb/>Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, <f>ⓔ</f>‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.


text:
And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.


text:
<f>ⓕ</f> Why have you despised the word of the LORD, <f>ⓖ</f>to do what is evil in his sight? <f>ⓗ</f>You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and <f>ⓘ</f>have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.


text:
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’


text:
Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.


text:
<f>ⓚ</f> David said to Nathan, <f>ⓛ</f>“I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, <f>ⓜ</f>“The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.


text:
Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly <f>ⓝ</f>scorned the LORD, <f>[2]</f> the child who is born to you shall die.”


text:
Then Nathan went to his house. <pb/><e>David's Child Dies</e> </pb> <pb/>And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick.


text:
David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David <f>ⓞ</f>fasted and went in <f>ⓟ</f>and lay all night on the ground.


text:
And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.


text:
On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”


text:
But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”


text:
Then David arose from the earth <f>ⓠ</f>and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD <f>ⓡ</f>and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.


text:
Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”


text:
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, <f>ⓢ</f>‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’


text:
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, <f>ⓣ</f>but he will not return to me.”


text:
<pb/>Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and <f>ⓤ</f>she bore a son, and he called his name <f>ⓥ</f>Solomon. And the LORD loved him


text:
and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, <f>[3]</f> because of the LORD.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓦ</f> Now Joab <f>ⓧ</f>fought against <f>ⓨ</f>Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.


text:
And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters.


text:
Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.”


text:
And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent <f>[4]</f> of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.


text:
And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at <f>[5]</f> the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓐ</f>Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was <f>ⓑ</f>Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her.


text:
And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.


text:
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of <f>ⓒ</f>Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man.


text:
And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.”


text:
Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’”


text:
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and <f>ⓓ</f>make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”


text:
<pb/>Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.”


text:
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes.


text:
And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, <f>ⓔ</f>“Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him.


text:
Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.


text:
But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”


text:
She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate <f>[1]</f> me, for <f>ⓕ</f>such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this <f>ⓖ</f>outrageous thing.


text:
As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of <f>ⓗ</f>the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”


text:
<pb/>Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!”


text:
But she said to him, “No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” <f>[2]</f> But he would not listen to her.


text:
He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.”


text:
Now she was wearing <f>ⓘ</f>a long robe with sleeves, <f>[3]</f> for thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her.


text:
And Tamar <f>ⓙ</f>put ashes on her head and <f>ⓚ</f>tore the long robe that she wore. And <f>ⓛ</f>she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.


text:
<pb/>And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom's house.


text:
But Absalom spoke to Amnon <f>ⓜ</f>neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.


text:
<pb/>After two full years Absalom had <f>ⓝ</f>sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons.


text:
And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.”


text:
But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing.


text:
Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”


text:
Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon's <f>ⓞ</f>heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.”


text:
So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.


text:
<pb/>While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of them is left.”


text:
Then the king arose and <f>ⓟ</f>tore his garments and <f>ⓠ</f>lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments.


text:
But <f>ⓡ</f>Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar.


text:
Now therefore let not my lord the king so <f>ⓢ</f>take it to heart as to suppose that all the king's sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him <f>[5]</f> by the side of the mountain.


text:
And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king's sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.”


text:
And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓤ</f> But Absalom fled and went to <f>ⓥ</f>Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of <f>ⓦ</f>Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day.


text:
And the spirit of the king <f>[6]</f> longed to go out <f>[7]</f> to Absalom, because <f>ⓨ</f>he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.


text:
And Joab sent to <f>ⓑ</f>Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. <f>ⓒ</f>Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.


text:
<pb/>When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, <f>ⓔ</f>she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, <f>ⓕ</f>“Save me, O king.”


text:
And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, <f>ⓖ</f>“Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.


text:
And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.


text:
And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would <f>ⓗ</f>destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor <f>ⓘ</f>remnant on the face of the earth.”


text:
And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, <f>ⓙ</f>“On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.”


text:
The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.”


text:
Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the LORD your God, that <f>ⓚ</f>the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, <f>ⓛ</f>“As the LORD lives, <f>ⓜ</f>not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”


text:
<pb/>Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”


text:
And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against <f>ⓝ</f>the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring <f>ⓞ</f>his banished one home again.


text:
We must all die; we are <f>ⓟ</f>like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means <f>ⓠ</f>so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.


text:
Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.


text:
For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from <f>ⓡ</f>the heritage of God.’


text:
And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is <f>ⓢ</f>like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!”


text:
<pb/>Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.”


text:
The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, <f>ⓣ</f>“As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; <f>ⓤ</f>it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant.


text:
In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of <f>ⓥ</f>the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”


text:
And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage <f>ⓦ</f>and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.”


text:
And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence.


text:
<pb/>Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. <f>ⓨ</f>From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.


text:
And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he <f>ⓩ</f>cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels <f>[1]</f> by the king's weight.


text:
There were born <f>ⓐ</f>to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.


text:
Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come.


text:
Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. <f>[2]</f>


text:
Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”


text:
Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from <f>ⓑ</f>Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, <f>ⓒ</f>and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’”


text:
Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.


text:
And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside <f>ⓑ</f>the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”


text:
Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”


text:
Then Absalom would say, <f>ⓒ</f>“Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”


text:
And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.


text:
Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.


text:
<pb/>And at the end of four <f>[1]</f> years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.


text:
For your servant <f>ⓓ</f>vowed a vow <f>ⓔ</f>while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to <f>[2]</f> the LORD.’”


text:
But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’”


text:
With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem <f>ⓖ</f>who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing.


text:
And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for <f>[3]</f> <f>ⓗ</f>Ahithophel the Gilonite, <f>ⓘ</f>David's counselor, from his city <f>ⓙ</f>Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom <f>ⓚ</f>kept increasing.


text:
<pb/>And a messenger came to David, saying, <f>ⓛ</f>“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”


text:
Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us <f>ⓜ</f>flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”


text:
And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.”


text:
So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left <f>ⓝ</f>ten concubines to keep the house.


text:
<pb/>And <f>ⓞ</f>all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from <f>ⓟ</f>Gath, passed on before the king.


text:
Then the king said to <f>ⓠ</f>Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home.


text:
You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go <f>ⓡ</f>I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show <f>[4]</f> steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”


text:
But Ittai answered the king, <f>ⓢ</f>“As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, <f>ⓣ</f>wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”


text:
And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.


text:
And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed <f>ⓤ</f>the brook <f>ⓥ</f>Kidron, and all the people passed on toward <f>ⓦ</f>the wilderness.


text:
<pb/>And <f>ⓧ</f>Abiathar came up, and behold, <f>ⓨ</f>Zadok came also with all the Levites, <f>ⓩ</f>bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.


text:
Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will <f>ⓐ</f>bring me back and let me see both it and his <f>ⓑ</f>dwelling place.


text:
But if he says, ‘I have no <f>ⓒ</f>pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, <f>ⓓ</f>let him do to me what seems good to him.”


text:
The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a <f>ⓔ</f>seer? Go back <f>[5]</f> to the city in peace, with <f>ⓕ</f>your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.


text:
See, I will wait at <f>ⓖ</f>the fords of <f>ⓗ</f>the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”


text:
<pb/>But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, <f>ⓘ</f>barefoot and <f>ⓙ</f>with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, <f>ⓚ</f>weeping as they went.


text:
And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, please <f>ⓛ</f>turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”


text:
<pb/>While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai <f>ⓜ</f>the Archite came to meet him <f>ⓝ</f>with his coat torn and <f>ⓞ</f>dirt on his head.


text:
But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, <f>ⓠ</f>‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.


text:
Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, <f>ⓡ</f>tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.


text:
Behold, <f>ⓢ</f>their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, <f>ⓣ</f>and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.”


text:
So Hushai, <f>ⓤ</f>David's friend, came into the city, <f>ⓥ</f>just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>When David had passed a little beyond <f>ⓐ</f>the summit, <f>ⓑ</f>Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, <f>ⓒ</f>a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine.


text:
And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, <f>ⓓ</f>“The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who <f>ⓔ</f>faint in the wilderness to drink.”


text:
And the king said, “And where is your master's son?” <f>ⓕ</f>Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’”


text:
Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”


text:
<pb/>When King David came to <f>ⓖ</f>Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was <f>ⓗ</f>Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came <f>ⓘ</f>he cursed continually.


text:
And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.


text:
The LORD <f>ⓚ</f>has avenged on you all <f>ⓛ</f>the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”


text:
<pb/>Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this <f>ⓜ</f>dead dog <f>ⓝ</f>curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”


text:
But the king said, <f>ⓞ</f>“What have I to do with you, <f>ⓟ</f>you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”


text:
And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, <f>ⓠ</f>my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.


text:
It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, <f>[1]</f> and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing today.”


text:
So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and <f>ⓡ</f>cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.


text:
And the king, and all the people who were with him, <f>ⓢ</f>arrived weary at the Jordan. <f>[2]</f> And there he refreshed himself.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.


text:
And when Hushai the Archite, <f>ⓤ</f>David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, <f>ⓥ</f>“Long live the king! Long live the king!”


text:
And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? <f>ⓦ</f>Why did you not go with your friend?”


text:
And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain.


text:
And again, <f>ⓧ</f>whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”


text:
Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to <f>ⓨ</f>your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and <f>ⓩ</f>the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”


text:
So they pitched a tent for Absalom <f>ⓐ</f>on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines <f>ⓑ</f>in the sight of all Israel.


text:
Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, <f>ⓒ</f>both by David and by Absalom.


text:
<pb/>Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.


text:
I will come upon him while he is <f>ⓐ</f>weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. <f>ⓑ</f>I will strike down only the king,


text:
and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, <f>[1]</f> and all the people will be at peace.”


text:
And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.”


text:
Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, <f>[2]</f> <f>ⓓ</f>like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people.


text:
Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall <f>[3]</f> at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’


text:
Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly <f>ⓔ</f>melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men.


text:
But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, <f>ⓕ</f>from Dan to Beersheba, <f>ⓖ</f>as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.


text:
So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left.


text:
If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.”


text:
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” <f>ⓗ</f>For the LORD had ordained <f>[4]</f> to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓘ</f> Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled.


text:
Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at <f>ⓙ</f>the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be <f>ⓚ</f>swallowed up.’”


text:
Now <f>ⓛ</f>Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at <f>ⓜ</f>En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city.


text:
But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at <f>ⓝ</f>Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it.


text:
<f>ⓞ</f> And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it.


text:
When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook <f>[5]</f> of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, <f>ⓟ</f>“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.”


text:
Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.


text:
<pb/>When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to <f>ⓠ</f>his own city. He <f>ⓡ</f>set his house in order and <f>ⓢ</f>hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.


text:
<pb/>Then David came to <f>ⓣ</f>Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.


text:
Now Absalom had set <f>ⓤ</f>Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, <f>[6]</f> who had married Abigal the daughter of <f>ⓥ</f>Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.


text:
<pb/>When David came to Mahanaim, <f>ⓦ</f>Shobi the son of Nahash from <f>ⓧ</f>Rabbah of the Ammonites, and <f>ⓨ</f>Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and <f>ⓩ</f>Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,


text:
brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, <f>[7]</f>


text:
honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and <f>ⓐ</f>weary and thirsty <f>ⓑ</f>in the wilderness.”


text:
<pb/>Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.


text:
And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of <f>ⓐ</f>Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.”


text:
<f>ⓑ</f> But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.”


text:
The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.


text:
And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” <f>ⓒ</f>And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.


text:
<pb/>So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the <f>ⓓ</f>forest of Ephraim.


text:
And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.


text:
The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.


text:
<pb/>And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, <f>[1]</f> <f>ⓔ</f>and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.


text:
Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”


text:
But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king's son, for <f>ⓕ</f>in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’


text:
On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life <f>[2]</f> (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.”


text:
Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak.


text:
<pb/>Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them.


text:
And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him <f>ⓖ</f>a very great heap of stones. And all Israel <f>ⓗ</f>fled every one to his own home.


text:
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself <f>ⓘ</f>the pillar that is in <f>ⓙ</f>the King's Valley, for he said, <f>ⓚ</f>“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument <f>[3]</f> to this day.


text:
<pb/>Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, <f>ⓛ</f>“Let me run and carry news to the king that <f>ⓜ</f>the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.”


text:
And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.”


text:
Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.


text:
Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?”


text:
“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of <f>ⓝ</f>the plain, and outran the Cushite.


text:
<pb/>Now David <f>ⓞ</f>was sitting between the two gates, and <f>ⓟ</f>the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.


text:
The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer.


text:
The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.”


text:
The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is <f>ⓠ</f>like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, <f>ⓡ</f>“He is a good man and comes with good news.”


text:
<pb/>Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, <f>ⓢ</f>“Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”


text:
And the king said, <f>ⓣ</f>“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.”


text:
<pb/>And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For <f>ⓤ</f>the LORD has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.”


text:
The king said to the Cushite, <f>ⓥ</f>“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, <f>ⓦ</f>“May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.”


text:
<f>[4]</f> And the king was deeply moved and went up <f>ⓧ</f>to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, <f>ⓨ</f>“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”


text:
So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.”


text:
And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.


text:
The king <f>ⓐ</f>covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, <f>ⓑ</f>“O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”


text:
Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines,


text:
because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased.


text:
Now therefore arise, go out and speak <f>ⓒ</f>kindly to your servants, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.”


text:
Then the king arose and took his <f>ⓓ</f>seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king. <pb/><e>David Returns to Jerusalem</e> </pb> <pb/>Now Israel had <f>ⓔ</f>fled every man to his own home.


text:
And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, <f>ⓕ</f>“The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and <f>ⓖ</f>saved us from the hand of the Philistines, and now <f>ⓗ</f>he has fled out of the land from Absalom.


text:
But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”


text:
<pb/>And King David sent this message to <f>ⓘ</f>Zadok and Abiathar the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king? <f>[1]</f>


text:
You are my brothers; <f>ⓙ</f>you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’


text:
And say to Amasa, <f>ⓚ</f>‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? <f>ⓛ</f>God do so to me and more also, if you are not <f>ⓜ</f>commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.’”


text:
And he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah <f>ⓝ</f>as one man, so that they sent word to the king, “Return, both you and all your servants.”


text:
So the king came back to the Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan.


text:
<pb/>And <f>ⓞ</f>Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David.


text:
And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And <f>ⓟ</f>Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king,


text:
and they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do his pleasure. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan,


text:
and said to the king, <f>ⓠ</f>“Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant <f>ⓡ</f>did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart.


text:
For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first <f>ⓢ</f>of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”


text:
Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because <f>ⓣ</f>he cursed the LORD's anointed?”


text:
But David said, <f>ⓤ</f>“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? <f>ⓥ</f>Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?”


text:
<pb/>And <f>ⓧ</f>Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety.


text:
And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, <f>ⓨ</f>“Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”


text:
He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, <f>[2]</f> that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For <f>ⓩ</f>your servant is lame.


text:
<f>ⓐ</f> He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is <f>ⓑ</f>like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you.


text:
For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but <f>ⓒ</f>you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?”


text:
And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.”


text:
And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.”


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓓ</f>Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan.


text:
Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. <f>ⓔ</f>He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.


text:
And the king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.”


text:
But Barzillai said to the king, <f>ⓕ</f>“How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?


text:
I am this day <f>ⓖ</f>eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be <f>ⓗ</f>an added burden to my lord the king?


text:
Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?


text:
Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant <f>ⓘ</f>Chimham. Let him go over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.”


text:
And the king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire of me I will do for you.”


text:
Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And <f>ⓙ</f>the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home.


text:
The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.


text:
<pb/>Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and <f>ⓚ</f>brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?”


text:
All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is <f>ⓛ</f>our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense? Or has he given us any gift?”


text:
And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have <f>ⓜ</f>ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” <f>ⓝ</f>But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.


text:
<pb/>Now there happened to be there <f>ⓐ</f>a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, <pb/><t><f>ⓑ</f>“We have no portion in David, </t><t>and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; </t><t><f>ⓒ</f>every man to his tents, O Israel!” </t>


text:
<pb/>So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.


text:
<pb/>And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took <f>ⓓ</f>the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.


text:
<pb/>Then the king said to <f>ⓔ</f>Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.”


text:
And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take <f>ⓕ</f>your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.” <f>[1]</f>


text:
And there went out after him Joab's men and the <f>ⓖ</f>Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.


text:
When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out.


text:
And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand <f>ⓗ</f>to kiss him.


text:
But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab's hand. <f>ⓘ</f>So Joab struck him with it <f>ⓙ</f>in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. <pb/>Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.


text:
And one of Joab's young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.”


text:
And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him.


text:
When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.


text:
<pb/>And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to <f>ⓚ</f>Abel of <f>ⓛ</f>Beth-maacah, <f>[2]</f> and all <f>ⓜ</f>the Bichrites <f>[3]</f> assembled and followed him in.


text:
And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in <f>ⓝ</f>Abel of Beth-maacah. <f>ⓞ</f>They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.


text:
Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’”


text:
And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.”


text:
Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at <f>ⓟ</f>Abel,’ and so they settled a matter.


text:
I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you <f>ⓠ</f>swallow up <f>ⓡ</f>the heritage of the LORD?”


text:
That is not true. But a man of <f>ⓣ</f>the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.”


text:
Then the woman went to all the people <f>ⓤ</f>in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, <f>ⓥ</f>every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓦ</f> Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites;


text:
and <f>ⓧ</f>Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;


text:
<pb/>Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David <f>ⓐ</f>sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”


text:
So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but <f>ⓑ</f>of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.


text:
And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless <f>ⓒ</f>the heritage of the LORD?”


text:
The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”


text:
They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,


text:
let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at <f>ⓓ</f>Gibeah of Saul, <f>ⓔ</f>the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”


text:
<pb/>But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of <f>ⓕ</f>the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.


text:
The king took the two sons of <f>ⓖ</f>Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab <f>[1]</f> the daughter of Saul, whom <f>ⓗ</f>she bore to <f>ⓘ</f>Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;


text:
and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, <f>ⓙ</f>at the beginning of barley harvest.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓚ</f> Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.


text:
David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, <f>ⓛ</f>who had stolen them from the public square of <f>ⓜ</f>Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.


text:
And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.


text:
And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in <f>ⓝ</f>Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that <f>ⓞ</f>God responded to the plea for the land.


text:
<pb/>There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.


text:
And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants <f>ⓟ</f>of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels <f>[2]</f> of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David.


text:
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, <f>ⓠ</f>“You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench <f>ⓡ</f>the lamp of Israel.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓢ</f> After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then <f>ⓣ</f>Sibbecai <f>ⓤ</f>the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants <f>ⓥ</f>of the giants.


text:
And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and <f>ⓦ</f>Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, <f>ⓧ</f>the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. <f>[3]</f>


text:
And there was again war at Gath, where 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 was descended <f>ⓨ</f>from the giants.


text:
These four were descended <f>ⓐ</f>from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.


text:
<pb/>And David spoke <f>ⓐ</f>to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.


text:
<t><f>ⓓ</f> my <f>[1]</f> God, my rock, <f>ⓔ</f>in whom I take refuge, </t><t><f>ⓕ</f>my shield, and <f>ⓖ</f>the horn of my salvation, </t><t><f>ⓗ</f>my stronghold and <f>ⓘ</f>my refuge, </t><t>my savior; you save me from violence.</t>


text:
<t>I call upon the LORD, who is <f>ⓙ</f>worthy to be praised, </t><t>and I am saved from my enemies. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓚ</f> “For the waves of death encompassed me, </t><t>the torrents of destruction assailed me; <f>[2]</f></t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓜ</f> “In my distress I called upon the LORD; </t><t>to my God I called. </t><t>From his temple he heard my voice, </t><t>and my cry <f>ⓝ</f>came to his ears. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“Then <f>ⓞ</f>the earth reeled and rocked; </t><t><f>ⓟ</f>the foundations of the heavens trembled </t><t>and quaked, because he was angry.</t>


text:
<t>Smoke went up from his nostrils, <f>[3]</f> </t><t>and devouring fire from his mouth; </t><t><f>ⓠ</f>glowing coals flamed forth from him.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓡ</f> He bowed the heavens and <f>ⓢ</f>came down; </t><t><f>ⓣ</f>thick darkness was under his feet.</t>


text:
<t>He made <f>ⓥ</f>darkness around him <f>ⓦ</f>his canopy, </t><t>thick clouds, a gathering of water.</t>


text:
<t>Then the channels of the sea were seen; </t><t>the foundations of the world were laid bare, </t><t>at the rebuke of the LORD, </t><t>at the <f>ⓐ</f>blast of the breath of his nostrils. </t>


text:
<t>He rescued me from my strong enemy, </t><t>from those who hated me, </t><t>for they were too mighty for me.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓒ</f> He brought me out into a broad place; </t><t>he rescued me, because <f>ⓓ</f>he delighted in me. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“The LORD <f>ⓔ</f>dealt with me according to my righteousness; </t><t>according to the <f>ⓕ</f>cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓖ</f> For I have kept the ways of the LORD </t><t>and have not wickedly departed from my God.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓗ</f> For all his rules were before me, </t><t>and from his statutes I did not turn aside.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓙ</f> And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, </t><t>according to my cleanness in his sight. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓚ</f> “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; </t><t>with the <f>ⓛ</f>blameless man you show yourself blameless;</t>


text:
<t>with the purified you deal purely, </t><t>and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓜ</f> You save a humble people, </t><t><f>ⓝ</f>but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.</t>


text:
<t>This God — <f>ⓟ</f>his way is perfect; </t><t>the <f>ⓠ</f>word of the LORD proves true; </t><t>he is <f>ⓡ</f>a shield for all those who take refuge in him. </t>


text:
<t>This God is my <f>ⓣ</f>strong refuge </t><t>and has made my <f>[4]</f> way blameless. <f>[5]</f></t>


text:
<t><f>ⓤ</f> He made my feet like the feet of a deer </t><t>and set me secure <f>ⓥ</f>on the heights.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓧ</f> You gave a wide place for my steps under me, </t><t>and my feet <f>[6]</f> did not slip;</t>


text:
<t>I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, </t><t>and did not turn back until they were consumed.</t>


text:
<t>I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; </t><t>they fell <f>ⓨ</f>under my feet.</t>


text:
<t>For you equipped me with strength for the battle; </t><t>you made <f>ⓩ</f>those who rise against me sink under me.</t>


text:
<t>You <f>ⓐ</f>made my enemies turn their backs to me, <f>[7]</f> </t><t>those who hated me, and I destroyed them.</t>


text:
<t>They looked, but there was none to save; </t><t>they cried to the LORD, but <f>ⓑ</f>he did not answer them.</t>


text:
<t>I beat them fine <f>ⓒ</f>as the dust of the earth; </t><t>I crushed them and stamped them down <f>ⓓ</f>like the mire of the streets. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“You delivered me from strife with my people; <f>[8]</f> </t><t>you kept me as the head of <f>ⓔ</f>the nations; </t><t><f>ⓕ</f>people whom I had not known served me.</t>


text:
<pb/><t>“The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, </t><t>and exalted be <f>ⓗ</f>my God, <f>ⓘ</f>the rock of my salvation,</t>


text:
<t>who brought me out from my enemies; </t><t>you exalted me above <f>ⓚ</f>those who rose against me; </t><t>you delivered me from <f>ⓛ</f>men of violence. </t>


text:
<pb/><t><f>ⓜ</f> “For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, </t><t>and sing praises to your name.</t>


text:
<t><f>ⓝ</f> Great salvation he brings <f>[10]</f> to his king, </t><t>and shows steadfast love to <f>ⓞ</f>his anointed, </t><t>to David and his offspring <f>ⓟ</f>forever.” </t>


text:
<pb/>Now these are the last words of David: <pb/><t>The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, </t><t>the oracle of <f>ⓐ</f>the man who was raised on high, </t><t><f>ⓑ</f>the anointed of the God of Jacob, </t><t>the sweet psalmist of Israel: <f>[1]</f> </t>


text:
<t>The God of Israel has spoken; </t><t><f>ⓓ</f>the Rock of Israel has said to me: </t><t>When one rules justly over men, </t><t>ruling <f>ⓔ</f>in the fear of God,</t>


text:
<t>he <f>ⓕ</f>dawns on them like the morning light, </t><t>like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, </t><t>like rain <f>[2]</f> that makes grass to sprout from the earth. </t>


text:
<pb/><t>“For does not my house stand so with God? </t><t><f>ⓖ</f>For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, </t><t>ordered in all things and secure. </t><t>For will he not cause to prosper </t><t>all my help and my desire?</t>


text:
<t>But worthless men <f>[3]</f> are all like thorns that are thrown away, </t><t>for they cannot be taken with the hand;</t>


text:
<t>but the man who touches them </t><t>arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, </t><t>and they are utterly consumed with fire.” <f>[4]</f> </t>


text:
<pb/><f>ⓗ</f> These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: <f>ⓘ</f>Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. <f>[5]</f> He wielded his spear <f>[6]</f> against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.


text:
<pb/>And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of <f>ⓙ</f>Dodo, son of <f>ⓚ</f>Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew.


text:
He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.


text:
<pb/>And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the <f>ⓛ</f>Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, <f>[7]</f> where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines.


text:
But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory.


text:
<pb/>And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the <f>ⓜ</f>cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped <f>ⓝ</f>in the Valley of Rephaim.


text:
David was then <f>ⓞ</f>in the stronghold, and <f>ⓟ</f>the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.


text:
And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!”


text:
Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD


text:
and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink <f>ⓠ</f>the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.


text:
<pb/>Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. <f>[8]</f> And he wielded his spear against three hundred men <f>[9]</f> and killed them and won a name beside the three.


text:
He was the most renowned of the thirty <f>[10]</f> and became their commander, but he did not attain to <f>ⓡ</f>the three.


text:
<pb/>And <f>ⓢ</f>Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man <f>[11]</f> of <f>ⓣ</f>Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels <f>[12]</f> of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.


text:
And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.


text:
He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.


text:
<pb/><f>ⓤ</f> Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,


text:
Heleb the son of Baanah <f>ⓑ</f>of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of <f>ⓒ</f>Gibeah of the people of Benjamin,


text:
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai <f>ⓗ</f>of Maacah, <f>ⓘ</f>Eliam the son of <f>ⓙ</f>Ahithophel the Gilonite,


text:
<pb/><f>ⓐ</f> <f>ⓑ</f>Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, <f>ⓒ</f>“Go, number Israel and Judah.”


text:
So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, <f>[1]</f> who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, <f>ⓓ</f>from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”


text:
But Joab said to the king, <f>ⓔ</f>“May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”


text:
But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.


text:
They crossed the Jordan and began from <f>ⓕ</f>Aroer, <f>[2]</f> and from the city that is in the middle of the <f>ⓖ</f>valley, toward Gad and on to <f>ⓗ</f>Jazer.


text:
Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; <f>[3]</f> and they came to Dan, and from Dan <f>[4]</f> they went around to <f>ⓘ</f>Sidon,


text:
and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the <f>ⓙ</f>Hivites and <f>ⓚ</f>Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba.


text:
So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.


text:
And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men <f>ⓛ</f>who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.


text:
<pb/>But <f>ⓜ</f>David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, <f>ⓝ</f>“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done <f>ⓞ</f>very foolishly.”


text:
And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to <f>ⓟ</f>the prophet Gad, David's <f>ⓠ</f>seer, saying,


text:
“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer <f>[5]</f> you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”


text:
So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall <f>ⓡ</f>three <f>[6]</f> years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”


text:
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, <f>ⓢ</f>for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”


text:
<pb/><f>ⓣ</f> So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from <f>ⓤ</f>Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.


text:
And when <f>ⓥ</f>the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem <f>ⓦ</f>to destroy it, <f>ⓧ</f>the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel <f>ⓨ</f>who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And <f>ⓩ</f>the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of <f>ⓐ</f>Araunah the Jebusite.


text:
Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”


text:
<pb/>And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of <f>ⓑ</f>Araunah the Jebusite.”


text:
And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.


text:
And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague <f>ⓒ</f>may be averted from the people.”


text:
Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the <f>ⓓ</f>threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.


text:
All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God <f>ⓔ</f>accept you.”


text:
But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels <f>[7]</f> of silver.


text:
And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. <f>ⓕ</f>So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.


text:
<pb/>Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.


text:
Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, <f>[1]</f> that my lord the king may be warm.”


text:
So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the <f>ⓐ</f>Shunammite, and brought her to the king.


text:
The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.


text:
<pb/>Now <f>ⓑ</f>Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” <f>ⓒ</f>And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.


text:
His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, <f>ⓓ</f>and he was born next after Absalom.


text:
He conferred with <f>ⓔ</f>Joab the son of Zeruiah and with <f>ⓕ</f>Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him.


text:
But <f>ⓖ</f>Zadok the priest and <f>ⓗ</f>Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and <f>ⓘ</f>Nathan the prophet and <f>ⓙ</f>Shimei and Rei and <f>ⓚ</f>David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.


text:
<pb/>Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside <f>ⓛ</f>En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,


text:
but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or <f>ⓜ</f>Solomon his brother.


text:
<pb/>Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that <f>ⓝ</f>Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?


text:
Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.


text:
Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, <f>ⓞ</f>“Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’


text:
Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm <f>[2]</f> your words.”


text:
<pb/>So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king).


text:
She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, <f>ⓟ</f>‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’


text:
<f>ⓠ</f> He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, <f>ⓡ</f>Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but <f>ⓢ</f>Solomon your servant he has not invited.


text:
And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.


text:
Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king <f>ⓣ</f>sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”


text:
And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground.


text:
And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?


text:
For he has gone down this day and <f>ⓤ</f>has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders <f>[3]</f> of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, <f>ⓥ</f>‘Long live King Adonijah!’


