The Daily Audio Bible
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14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all the Berites[a] were gathered together and they followed him.
15 All the men who were with Joab besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Ma’akah. They constructed a siege ramp against the rampart of the city, and they started battering the wall to make it fall down.
16 A wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here and let me speak to you.’” 17 He approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?”
He said, “I am.”
She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.”
He said, “I am listening.”
18 She said, “In former times they always said, ‘Let them ask in Abel.’ That is how they settled things. 19 I am one of the peaceful, faithful people of Israel. You are seeking to put to death a whole city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”
20 Joab answered, “May I be cursed, yes, cursed, if I am here to swallow up or destroy. 21 That is not the case. The fact is, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name is Sheba son of Bikri, lifted up his hand against King David. Just give him up, and I will withdraw from the city.”
The woman said to Joab, “Certainly! His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
22 So the woman went to all the people with her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. Then he blew the ram’s horn, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab then returned to the king in Jerusalem.
David’s Officers
23 Joab was over the whole army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites. 24 Adoram was in charge of forced labor. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the record keeper.[b] 25 Sheva[c] was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were the high priests. 26 Also Ira the Jairite was a government minister[d] for David.
The Famine
21 There was a famine in the days of David for three years in a row.
David sought the favor[e] of the Lord, and the Lord said, “There is blood guilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.
(The Gibeonites were not related to the people of Israel, but they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had given them a sworn promise, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How will I make atonement[f] to you so you will bless the heritage of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “The issue between us and Saul and his house cannot be settled with silver and gold. Nor is it up to us to put anyone in Israel to death.”
So David said, “Well then, what are you saying I should do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “From the man who consumed us and who planned to destroy us so that we would have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 we ask you to give us seven of his male descendants. Allow us to hang them up before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the chosen of the Lord.”
The king said, “I will grant it.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. 8 The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had given birth, and the five sons of Merab,[g] the daughter of Saul, to whom she gave birth for Adriel son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. 9 David handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died together. They were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself near the rock. From the beginning of the grain harvest until rain started falling on them from the sky,[h] she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 David was informed about what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and got the bones of Saul and the bones of Saul’s son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. 13 He brought the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from there. They also gathered the bones of the men who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Saul’s son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father. They did everything the king commanded. After that, God responded to the prayers for the land.
Battles With the Philistine Giants
15 War occurred again between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his troops and fought against the Philistines. David became very tired. 16 Ishbi Benob was one of the descendants of Rapha the giant.[i] His bronze spear weighed more than seven pounds,[j] and he was equipped with a new weapon. He said that he was going to kill David. 17 Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid. He attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You are not to go out to battle with us anymore, so that you do not put out the lamp of Israel.”
18 After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, in which Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was also descended from Rapha the giant.
19 There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Elhanan son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[k] whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.
20 There was war again in Gath. There was a very tall man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha the giant. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,[l] the brother of David, killed him. 22 These four were descended from Rapha the giant in Gath. They fell at the hand of David and his servants.
Introduction and Theme
1 I wrote my first book, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began doing and teaching 2 until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After he had suffered, he presented himself alive to the apostles with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and told them things about the kingdom of God.
4 Once, when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what the Father promised, which you heard from me. 5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they were together with him, they asked, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But 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 ends of the earth.”
Jesus Ascends to Heaven
9 After he said these things, he was taken up while they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 They were looking intently into the sky as he went away. Suddenly, two men in white clothes stood beside them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.[a]
Matthias Is Chosen
13 When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter and John were there, also James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 All of them kept praying together with one mind, along with the women, with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days, when the group there numbered about 120 people, Peter stood up among the brothers[b] and said, 16 “Gentlemen,[c] brothers, the Scripture[d] had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David about Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 Judas was counted as one of us and was given a share in this ministry.
18 “Now this man acquired a field with what he was paid for his wicked act. When he fell headfirst, his middle burst open, and all his intestines spilled out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, and so in their own language that field was called Akeldema, which means Field of Blood. 20 Indeed, it is written in the book of Psalms:
May his residence be deserted.
Let there be no one dwelling in it.[e]
And,
let someone else take his position.[f]
21 “Therefore it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us during the entire time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day Jesus was taken up from us, become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 They proposed two: Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”[g]
26 Then they assigned lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was counted with the eleven apostles.[h]
Psalm 121
Help From the Lord
Heading
A song for the ascents.
Help From the Lord, Israel’s Watchman
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains.
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot stumble.
He who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Yes, he who watches over Israel will not slumber.
He will not sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you.
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will watch to keep you from all harm.[a]
He will watch over your life.[b]
8 The Lord will watch over your going and your coming
from now to eternity.
18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit precedes a fall.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.