Study Desk

"That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand [in rebellion] against King David. Only hand him over, and I will leave the city." And the woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel but of the remnant (survivors) of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn [an oath] to [spare] them, but Saul in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah had sought to strike down the Gibeonites).

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between David and Saul's son Jonathan.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

"They came upon me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support.

"And You save the afflicted people; But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase (humiliate).

"They looked, but there was no savior for them— Even to the LORD [they looked], but He did not answer them.

"But the wicked and worthless are all to be thrown away like thorns, Because they cannot be taken with the hand;

But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they are utterly burned and consumed by fire in their place."

But he took his stand in the center of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines; and the LORD brought about a great victory.

So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate, and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink it, but poured it out [in worship] to the LORD.

And he killed an Egyptian, an impressive and handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed the man with his own spear.

He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three. David appointed him over his guard.

But Joab said to the king, "May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king want to do this thing?"

But David's heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."

Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of man."

When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he spoke to the LORD and said, "Behold, I [alone] am the one who has sinned and done wrong; but these sheep (people of Israel), what have they done [to deserve this]? Please let Your hand be [only] against me and my father's house (family)."

But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." So David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Now King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm.

The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.