2 SAMUEL 21-23

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Gibeonite Revenge  21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
    7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.
    10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land.
    15 Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”
    18 Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, 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 had been born to the giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
David’s Psalm of Deliverance  22:1 And David spoke the words of this song to the LORD in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;

My savior, You save me from violence.

4 “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

5 “For the waves of death encompassed me;

The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me;

6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

7 “In my distress I called upon the LORD,

Yes, I cried to my God;

And from His temple He heard my voice,

And my cry for help came into His ears.

8 “Then the earth shook and quaked,

The foundations of heaven were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

9 “Smoke went up out of His nostrils,

Fire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

10 “He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick darkness under His feet.

11 “And He rode on a cherub and flew;

And He appeared on the wings of the wind.

12 “And He made darkness canopies around Him,

A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

13 “From the brightness before Him

Coals of fire were kindled.

14 “The LORD thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice.

15 “And He sent out arrows, and scattered them,

Lightning, and routed them.

16 “Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were laid bare

By the rebuke of the LORD,

At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17 “He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

18 “He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

19 “They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the LORD was my support.

20 “He also brought me forth into a broad place;

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

21 “The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

22 “For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

And have not acted wickedly against my God.

23 “For all His ordinances were before me,

And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

24 “I was also blameless toward Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

25 “Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness before His eyes.

26 “With the kind You show Yourself kind,

With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

27 With the pure You show Yourself pure,

And with the perverted You show Yourself astute.

28 “And You save an afflicted people;

But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

29 “For You are my lamp, O LORD;

And the LORD illumines my darkness.

30 “For by You I can run upon a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 “As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of the LORD is tested;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

32 “For who is God, besides the LORD?

And who is a rock, besides our God?

33 “God is my strong fortress;

And He sets the blameless in His way.

34 “He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And sets me on my high places.

35 “He trains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your help makes me great.

37 “You enlarge my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

38 “I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

39 “And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;

And they fell under my feet.

40 “For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

41 “You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,

And I destroyed those who hated me.

42 “They looked, but there was none to save;

Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

43 “Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;

I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

44 “You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;

You have kept me as head of the nations;

A people whom I have not known serve me.

45 “Foreigners pretend obedience to me;

As soon as they hear, they obey me.

46 “Foreigners lose heart,

And come trembling out of their fortresses.

47 “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,

48 The God who executes vengeance for me,

And brings down peoples under me,

49 Who also brings me out from my enemies;

You even lift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the violent man.

50 “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

51 “He is a tower of deliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,

To David and his descendants forever.”

David’s Last Song  23:1 Now these are the last words of David.

David the son of Jesse declares,

The man who was raised on high declares,

The anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel,

2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me,

And His word was on my tongue.

3 “The God of Israel said,

The Rock of Israel spoke to me,

‘He who rules over men righteously,

Who rules in the fear of God,

4 Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

When the tender grass springs out of the earth,

Through sunshine after rain.’

5 “Truly is not my house so with God?

For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,

Ordered in all things, and secured;

For all my salvation and all my desire,

Will He not indeed make it grow?

6 “But the worthless, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns,

Because they cannot be taken in hand;

7 But the man who touches them

Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,

And they will be completely burned with fire in their place.”

His Mighty Men    8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time; 9 and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn. 10 He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the LORD brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
    11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the LORD brought about a great victory.
    13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD; 17 and he said, “Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
    18 Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three. 19 He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.
    20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21 He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.
    24 Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

PSALM 18

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The LORD Praised for Giving Deliverance.For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18:1 “I love You, O LORD, my strength.”

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me,

And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD,

And cried to my God for help;

He heard my voice out of His temple,

And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and quaked;

And the foundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,

And fire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick darkness under His feet.

10 He rode upon a cherub and flew;

And He sped upon the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

15 Then the channels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were laid bare

At Your rebuke, O LORD,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the LORD was my stay.

19 He brought me forth also into a broad place;

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all His ordinances were before me,

And I did not put away His statutes from me.

23 I was also blameless with Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With the kind You show Yourself kind;

With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,

And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

27 For You save an afflicted people,

But haughty eyes You abase.

28 For You light my lamp;

The LORD my God illumines my darkness.

29 For by You I can run upon a troop;

And by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of the LORD is tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

31 For who is God, but the LORD?

And who is a rock, except our God,

32 The God who girds me with strength

And makes my way blameless?

33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And sets me upon my high places.

34 He trains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your right hand upholds me;

And Your gentleness makes me great.

36 You enlarge my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;

They fell under my feet.

39 For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,

And I destroyed those who hated me.

41 They cried for help, but there was none to save,

Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;

You have placed me as head of the nations;

A people whom I have not known serve me.

44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreigners submit to me.

45 Foreigners fade away,

And come trembling out of their fortresses.

46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 The God who executes vengeance for me,

And subdues peoples under me.

48 He delivers me from my enemies;

Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the violent man.

49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

50 He gives great deliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,

To David and his descendants forever.

ROMANS 3

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All the World Guilty  3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS,

AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
    9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written,

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,

WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”

“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

14 “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

15 “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”

18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

    19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith    21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
    27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
    31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.