The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁴ Sheba went through all the Israelite tribes up to Abel of Beth-maacah. All the Bichrites^[a] assembled and followed Sheba in. ¹⁵ Then Joab’s men arrived and attacked Sheba at Abel of Beth-maacah. They piled up a ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer wall.^[b] All of Joab’s troops were hammering the wall, trying to bring it down.

¹⁶ Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come over here, so I can talk to him.”

¹⁷ So Joab approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he answered.

“Pay close attention to the words of your female servant,” she said.

“I’m listening,” Joab replied.

¹⁸ She said, “People used to say long ago: ‘Ask your question at Abel,’ and that settled the matter. ¹⁹ I am one of the peaceful and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to kill a city that is one of Israel’s mothers! Why would you annihilate the Lord’s inheritance?”

²⁰ Joab answered, “I would never, ever annihilate or destroy such a thing! ²¹ That’s not the issue. A man named Sheba, Bichri’s son, who is from the Ephraim highlands, has rebelled against King David. Just hand him over, and I’ll leave the city alone.”

The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

²² When the woman went to everyone with her wise counsel, they cut off the head of Sheba, Bichri’s son, and threw it out to Joab. Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and his troops left the city, returning to their homes. But Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

David’s officials

²³ Now Joab was in command of Israel’s army; Jehoiada’s son Benaiah commanded the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴ Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the recorder; ²⁵ Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ²⁶ and Ira from Jair was also a priest for David.

Avenging the Gibeonites

21 There was a famine for three years in a row during David’s rule. David asked the Lord about this, and the Lord said, “It is caused by Saul and his household, who are guilty of bloodshed because he killed the people of Gibeon.” ² So the king called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

(Now the Gibeonites weren’t Israelites but were survivors of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn a solemn pledge to spare them, but Saul tried to eliminate them in his enthusiasm for the people of Israel and Judah.)

³ David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? How can I fix matters so you can benefit from the Lord’s inheritance?”

⁴ The Gibeonites said to him, “We don’t want any silver or gold from Saul or his family, and it isn’t our right to have anyone in Israel killed.”

“What do you want?”^[c] David asked. “I’ll do it for you.”

⁵ “Okay then,” they said to the king. “That man who opposed and oppressed^[d] us, who planned to destroy us, keeping us from having a place to live anywhere in Israel— ⁶ hand over seven of his sons to us, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeon^[e] on the Lord’s mountain.”

“I will hand them over,” the king said.

⁷ But the king spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, because of the Lord’s solemn pledge that was between them—between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. ⁸ So the king took the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom she had birthed for Saul; and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[f] whom she birthed for Adriel, Barzillai’s son, who was from Meholah, ⁹ and he handed them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died at the same time. They were executed in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰ Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took funeral clothing and spread it out by herself on a rock. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rains poured down on the bodies from the sky, and she wouldn’t let any birds of prey land on the bodies during the day or let wild animals come at nighttime. ¹¹ When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s secondary wife, had done, ¹² he went and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen the bones from the public square in Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. ¹³ David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there and collected the bones of the men who had been hanged by the Gibeonites. ¹⁴ The bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were then buried in Zela, in Benjaminite territory, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. Once everything the king had commanded was done, God responded to prayers for the land.

War with the Philistines

¹⁵ Once again war broke out between the Philistines and Israel. David and the soldiers who were with him went down and fought the Philistines. When David grew tired, ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob, a descendant of the Raphah,^[g] planned on killing David.^[h] The weight of his spear was three hundred shekels of bronze, and he was wearing new armor. ¹⁷ But Zeruiah’s son Abishai came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men swore a solemn pledge to him: “You will never march out to battle with us again! You must not snuff out Israel’s lamp!”

¹⁸ Some time later, another battle with the Philistines took place at Gob. Then Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of the Raphah. ¹⁹ There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan, Jair’s son^[i] from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from Gath, whose spear shaft was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom. ²⁰ In another battle at Gath, there was a huge^[j] man who had six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet, twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Raphah. ²¹ When he insulted Israel, Jonathan, who was the son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him. ²² These four Philistines were descended from the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

The risen Jesus with his disciples

1 Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, ² right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. ³ After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. ⁴ While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: ⁵ John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶ As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

⁹ After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. ¹¹ They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³ When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James, Alphaeus’ son; Simon the zealot; and Judas, James’ son— ¹⁴ all were united in their devotion to prayer, along with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

A replacement for Judas

¹⁵ During this time, the family of believers was a company of about one hundred twenty persons. Peter stood among them and said, ¹⁶ “Brothers and sisters, the scripture that the Holy Spirit announced beforehand through David had to be fulfilled. This was the scripture concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ This happened even though he was one of us and received a share of this ministry.” (¹⁸ In fact, he bought a field with the payment he received for his injustice. Falling headfirst, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ This became known to everyone living in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Hakeldama, or “Field of Blood.”) ²⁰ “It is written in the Psalms scroll,

and

²¹ “Therefore, we must select one of those who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus lived among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when Jesus was taken from us. This person must become along with us a witness to his resurrection.” ²³ So they nominated two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴ They prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s deepest thoughts and desires. Show us clearly which one you have chosen from among these two ²⁵ to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” ²⁶ When they cast lots, the lot fell on Matthias. He was added to the eleven apostles.

Psalm 121

A pilgrimage song.