Bible Reading Plan – Day 89

₂₂Later on Joab and David's other officials returned from a raid, bringing a large amount of loot with them. Abner, however, was no longer there at Hebron with David, because David had sent him away with a guarantee of safety. ₂₃When Joab and his men arrived, he was told that Abner had come to King David and had been sent away with a guarantee of safety. ₂₄So Joab went to the king and said to him, “What have you done? Abner came to you — why did you let him go like that? ₂₅He came here to deceive you and to find out everything you do and everywhere you go. Surely you know that!”

₂₆After leaving David, Joab sent messengers to get Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David knew nothing about it. ₂₇When Abner arrived in Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate, as though he wanted to speak privately with him, and there he stabbed him in the belly. And so Abner was murdered because he had killed Joab's brother Asahel. ₂₈When David heard the news, he said, “The LORD knows that my subjects and I are completely innocent of the murder of Abner. ₂₉May the punishment for it fall on Joab and all his family! In every generation may there be some man in his family who has gonorrhoea or a dreaded skin disease or is fit only to do a woman's work or is killed in battle or hasn't enough to eat!” ₃₀So Joab and his brother Abishai took revenge on Abner for killing their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

₃₁Then David ordered Joab and his men to tear their clothes, wear sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And at the funeral King David himself walked behind the coffin. ₃₂Abner was buried at Hebron, and the king wept aloud at the grave, and so did all the people. ₃₃David sang this lament for Abner:

₃₅All day long the people tried to get David to eat something, but he made a solemn promise, “May God strike me dead if I eat anything before the day is over!” ₃₆They took note of this and were pleased. Indeed, everything the king did pleased the people. ₃₇All David's people and all the people in Israel understood that the king had no part in the murder of Abner. ₃₈The king said to his officials, “Don't you realize that this day a great leader in Israel has died? ₃₉Even though I am the king chosen by God, I feel weak today. These sons of Zeruiah are too violent for me. May the LORD punish these criminals as they deserve!”

₁When Saul's son Ishbosheth heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron, he was afraid, and all the people of Israel were alarmed. ₂Ishbosheth had two officers who were leaders of raiding parties, Baanah and Rechab, sons of Rimmon, from Beeroth in the tribe of Benjamin. (Beeroth is counted as part of Benjamin. ₃Its original inhabitants had fled to Gittaim, where they have lived ever since.)

₄Another descendant of Saul was Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, who was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed. When the news about their death came from the city of Jezreel, his nurse picked him up and fled; but she was in such a hurry that she dropped him, and he became crippled.

₅Rechab and Baanah set out for Ishbosheth's house and arrived there about noon, while he was taking his midday rest. ₆The woman at the door had become drowsy while she was sifting wheat and had fallen asleep, so Rechab and Baanah slipped in. ₇Once inside, they went to Ishbosheth's bedroom, where he was sound asleep, and killed him. Then they cut off his head, took it with them, and walked all night through the Jordan Valley. ₈They presented the head to King David at Hebron and said to him, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul, who tried to kill you. Today the LORD has allowed Your Majesty to take revenge on Saul and his descendants.”

₉David answered them, “I make a vow by the living LORD, who has saved me from all dangers! ₁₀The messenger who came to me at Ziklag and told me of Saul's death thought he was bringing good news. I seized him and had him put to death. That was the reward I gave him for his good news! ₁₁How much worse it will be for evil men who murder an innocent man asleep in his own house! I will now take revenge on you for murdering him and will wipe you off the face of the earth!” ₁₂David gave the order, and his soldiers killed Rechab and Baanah and cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up near the pool in Hebron. They took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb there at Hebron.

₁Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said to him, “We are your own flesh and blood. ₂In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the LORD promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler.” ₃So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel. ₄David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years. ₅He ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years, and in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah for 33 years.

₆The time came when King David and his men set out to attack Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who lived there, thought that David would not be able to conquer the city, and so they said to him, “You will never get in here; even the blind and the crippled could keep you out.” ₇(But David did capture their fortress of Zion, and it became known as “David's City”.)

₈That day David said to his men, “Does anybody here hate the Jebusites as much as I do? Enough to kill them? Then go up through the water tunnel and attack those poor blind cripples.” (That is why it is said, “The blind and the crippled cannot enter the LORD's house.”)

₉After capturing the fortress, David lived in it and named it “David's City”. He built the city round it, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill. ₁₀He grew stronger all the time, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.

₁₁King Hiram of Tyre sent a trade mission to David; he provided him with cedar logs and with carpenters and stonemasons to build a palace. ₁₂And so David realized that the LORD had established him as king of Israel and was making his kingdom prosperous for the sake of his people.

₁₃After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David took more concubines and wives, and had more sons and daughters. ₁₄The following children were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ₁₅Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ₁₆Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

₁₇The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place. ₁₈The Philistines arrived at the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it. ₁₉David asked the LORD, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

“Yes, attack!” the LORD answered. “I will give you the victory!”

₂₀So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies like a flood.” And so that place is called Baal Perazim. ₂₁When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away.

₂₂Then the Philistines went back to the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it again. ₂₃Once more David consulted the LORD, who answered, “Don't attack them from here, but go round and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. ₂₄When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ₂₅David did what the LORD had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.

₁Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of 30,000 men, ₂and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. ₃They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, ₄with Ahio walking in front. ₅David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honour the LORD. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals.

₆As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. ₇At once the LORD God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, ₈and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the LORD had punished Uzzah in anger.

₉Then David was afraid of the LORD and said, “How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?” ₁₀So he decided not to take it with him to Jerusalem; instead, he turned off the road and took it to the house of Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. ₁₁It stayed there three months, and the LORD blessed Obed Edom and his family.

₁₂King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the LORD had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he fetched the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration. ₁₃After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David made them stop while he offered the LORD a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf. ₁₄David, wearing only a linen cloth round his waist, danced with all his might to honour the LORD. ₁₅And so he and all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets.

₁₆As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and jumping around in the sacred dance, and she was disgusted with him. ₁₇They brought the Box and put it in its place in the Tent that David had set up for it. Then he offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the LORD. ₁₈When he had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty ₁₉and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. Then everyone went home.

₂₀Afterwards, when David went home to greet his family, Michal came out to meet him. “The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!”

₂₁David answered, “I was dancing to honour the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and his family to make me the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honour the LORD, ₂₂and will disgrace myself even more. You may think I am nothing, but those women will think highly of me!”

₂₃Michal, Saul's daughter, never had any children.