7-Day Devotional: Torn Between Two Worlds – Embracing God’s Gifts Amid Unmet Longings

Priorities of the Kingdom

The Bible for Young Explorers: Mark

Fuel the Fire Pt 2

Ready as You Are

Stress Less: 9 Practices That Build Resilience God's Way

Getting Dating Right

5 Prayers to Stop Thinking Negatively About Your Spouse

Worship Him

Learning About Love With St. Valentine

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch19" data-usfm="2SA.19">
 <div class="label">19</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 19:1-43 is numbered 19:2-44. 1Joab was told, &#8220;The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.&#8221; 2And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, &#8220;The king is grieving for his son.&#8221; 3The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4The king covered his face and cried aloud, &#8220;O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, &#8220;Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. 7Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don&#8217;t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, &#8220;The king is sitting in the gateway,&#8221; they all came before him.</div><div class="p">Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.</div><div class="s1">David Returns to Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 9Throughout the tribes of Israel, all the people were arguing among themselves, saying, &#8220;The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he has fled the country to escape from Absalom; 10and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: &#8220;Ask the elders of Judah, &#8216;Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters? 12You are my relatives, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king?&#8217; 13And say to Amasa, &#8216;Are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you are not the commander of my army for life in place of Joab.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14He won over the hearts of the men of Judah so that they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, &#8220;Return, you and all your men.&#8221; 15Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan.</div><div class="p">Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan. 16Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul&#8217;s household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was. 18They crossed at the ford to take the king&#8217;s household over and to do whatever he wished.</div><div class="p">When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king 19and said to him, &#8220;May my lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind. 20For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first from the tribes of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said, &#8220;Shouldn&#8217;t Shimei be put to death for this? He cursed the Lord&#8217;s anointed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22David replied, &#8220;What does this have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? What right do you have to interfere? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don&#8217;t I know that today I am king over Israel?&#8221; 23So the king said to Shimei, &#8220;You shall not die.&#8221; And the king promised him on oath.</div><div class="p"> 24Mephibosheth, Saul&#8217;s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. 25When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, &#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you go with me, Mephibosheth?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26He said, &#8220;My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, &#8216;I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.&#8217; But Ziba my servant betrayed me. 27And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish. 28All my grandfather&#8217;s descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29The king said to him, &#8220;Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30Mephibosheth said to the king, &#8220;Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31Barzillai the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there. 32Now Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. 33The king said to Barzillai, &#8220;Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34But Barzillai answered the king, &#8220;How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? 35I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is enjoyable and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way? 37Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever you wish.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38The king said, &#8220;Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever you wish. And anything you desire from me I will do for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and bid him farewell, and Barzillai returned to his home.</div><div class="p"> 40When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel had taken the king over.</div><div class="p"> 41Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, &#8220;Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 42All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, &#8220;We did this because the king is closely related to us. Why are you angry about it? Have we eaten any of the king&#8217;s provisions? Have we taken anything for ourselves?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 43Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, &#8220;We have ten shares in the king; so we have a greater claim on David than you have. Why then do you treat us with contempt? Weren&#8217;t we the first to speak of bringing back our king?&#8221;</div><div class="p">But the men of Judah pressed their claims even more forcefully than the men of Israel.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="2SA.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">Sheba Rebels Against David</div><div class="p"> 1Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;We have no share in David,</div><div class="q2">no part in Jesse&#8217;s son!</div><div class="q1">Every man to his tent, Israel!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 3When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them but had no sexual relations with them. They were kept in confinement till the day of their death, living as widows.</div><div class="p"> 4Then the king said to Amasa, &#8220;Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.&#8221; 5But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him.</div><div class="p"> 6David said to Abishai, &#8220;Now Sheba son of Bikri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your master&#8217;s men and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and escape from us.&#8221;#20:6 Or and do us serious injury 7So Joab&#8217;s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.</div><div class="p"> 8While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath.</div><div class="p"> 9Joab said to Amasa, &#8220;How are you, my brother?&#8221; Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab&#8217;s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bikri.</div><div class="p"> 11One of Joab&#8217;s men stood beside Amasa and said, &#8220;Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!&#8221; 12Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there. When he realized that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him. 13After Amasa had been removed from the road, everyone went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.</div><div class="p"> 14Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maakah and through the entire region of the Bikrites,#20:14 See Septuagint and Vulgate; Hebrew Berites. who gathered together and followed him. 15All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maakah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down, 16a wise woman called from the city, &#8220;Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.&#8221; 17He went toward her, and she asked, &#8220;Are you Joab?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am,&#8221; he answered.</div><div class="p">She said, &#8220;Listen to what your servant has to say.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I&#8217;m listening,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="p"> 18She continued, &#8220;Long ago they used to say, &#8216;Get your answer at Abel,&#8217; and that settled it. 19We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord&#8217;s inheritance?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;Far be it from me!&#8221; Joab replied, &#8220;Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! 21That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bikri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I&#8217;ll withdraw from the city.&#8221;</div><div class="p">The woman said to Joab, &#8220;His head will be thrown to you from the wall.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.</div><div class="s1">David&#8217;s Officials</div><div class="p"> 23Joab was over Israel&#8217;s entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; 24Adoniram#20:24 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Kings 4:6 and 5:14); Hebrew Adoram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 25Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26and Ira the Jairite#20:26 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 23:38) Ithrite was David&#8217;s priest.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="2SA.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">The Gibeonites Avenged</div><div class="p"> 1During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, &#8220;It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3David asked the Gibeonites, &#8220;What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord&#8217;s inheritance?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4The Gibeonites answered him, &#8220;We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;What do you want me to do for you?&#8221; David asked.</div><div class="p"> 5They answered the king, &#8220;As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul&#8212;the Lord&#8217;s chosen one.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So the king said, &#8220;I will give them to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah&#8217;s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul&#8217;s daughter Merab,#21:8 Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 1 Samuel 18:19); most Hebrew and Septuagint manuscripts Michal whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.</div><div class="p"> 10Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 11When David was told what Aiah&#8217;s daughter Rizpah, Saul&#8217;s concubine, had done, 12he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) 13David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.</div><div class="p"> 14They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul&#8217;s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.</div><div class="s1">Wars Against the Philistines</div><div class="p"> 15Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels#21:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David&#8217;s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David&#8217;s men swore to him, saying, &#8220;Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.</div><div class="p"> 19In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair#21:19 See 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew Jaare-Oregim. the Bethlehemite killed the brother of#21:19 See 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew does not have the brother of. Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver&#8217;s rod.</div><div class="p"> 20In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot&#8212;twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David&#8217;s brother, killed him.</div><div class="p"> 22These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.</div>
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