The One Year Bible TLB (151 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Many beg favors from a man who is generous; everyone is his friend!
7
A poor man’s own brothers turn away from him in embarrassment;
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how much more his friends! He calls after them, but they are gone.
July 14David arranged for Asaph and his fellow Levites to minister regularly at the Tabernacle,
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doing each day whatever needed to be done.
38
This group included Obed-edom (the son of Jeduthun), Hosah, and sixty-eight of their colleagues as guards.
39
Meanwhile the old Tabernacle of the Lord on the hill of Gibeon continued to be active. David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests to minister to the Lord there.
40
They sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord each morning and evening upon the altar set aside for that purpose, just as the Lord had commanded Israel.
41
David also appointed Heman, Jeduthun, and several others who were chosen by name to give thanks to the Lord for his constant love and mercy.
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They used their trumpets and cymbals to accompany the singers with loud praises to God. And Jeduthun’s sons were appointed as guards.
43
At last the celebration ended and the people returned to their homes, and David returned to bless his own household.
17:
1
After David had been living in his new palace for some time he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I’m living here in a cedar-paneled home while the Ark of the Covenant of God is out there in a tent!”
2
And Nathan replied, “Carry out your plan in every detail, for it is the will of the Lord.”
3
But that same night God said to Nathan,
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“Go and give my servant David this message: ‘You are not to build my temple!
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I’ve gone from tent to tent as my home from the time I brought Israel out of Egypt.
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In all that time I never suggested to any of the leaders of Israel—the shepherds I appointed to care for my people—that they should build me a cedar-lined temple.’
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“Tell my servant David, ‘The Lord of heaven says to you, I took you from being a shepherd and made you the king of my people.
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And I have been with you everywhere you’ve gone; I have destroyed your enemies, and I will make your name as great as the greatest of the earth.
9
And I will give a permanent home to my people Israel and will plant them in their land. They will not be disturbed again; the wicked nations won’t conquer them as they did before
10
when the judges ruled them. I will subdue all of your enemies. And I now declare that I will cause your descendants to be kings of Israel just as you are.
11
“‘When your time here on earth is over and you die, I will place one of your sons upon your throne; and I will make his kingdom strong.
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He is the one who shall build me a temple, and I will establish his royal line of descent forever.
13
I will be his father, and he shall be my son; I will never remove my mercy and love from him as I did from Saul.
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I will place him over my people and over the kingdom of Israel forever—and his descendants will always be kings.’”
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So Nathan told King David everything the Lord had said.
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Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family that you have given me all this?
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For all the great things you have already done for me are nothing in comparison to what you have promised to do in the future! For now, O Lord God, you are speaking of future generations of my children being kings too! You speak as though I were someone very great.
18
What else can I say? You know that I am but a dog, yet you have decided to honor me!
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O Lord, you have given me these wonderful promises just because you want to be kind to me, because of your own great heart.
20
O Lord, there is no one like you—there is no other God. In fact, we have never even heard of another god like you!
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“And what other nation in all the earth is like Israel? You have made a unique nation and have redeemed it from Egypt so that the people could be your people. And you made a great name for yourself when you did glorious miracles in driving out the nations from before your people.
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You have declared that your people Israel belong to you forever, and you have become their God.
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“And now I accept your promise, Lord, that I and my children will always rule this nation.
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And may this bring eternal honor to your name as everyone realizes that you always do what you say. They will exclaim, ‘The Lord of heaven is indeed the God of Israel!’ And Israel shall always be ruled by my children and their posterity!
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Now I have the courage to pray to you, for you have revealed this to me.
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God himself has promised this good thing to me!
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May this blessing rest upon my children forever, for when you grant a blessing, Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
18:
1
David finally subdued the Philistines and conquered Gath and its surrounding towns.
2
He also conquered Moab and required its people to send him a large sum of money every year.
3
He conquered the dominion of King Hadadezer of Zobah (as far as Hamath) at the time Hadadezer went to tighten his grip along the Euphrates River.
4
David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand troops. He crippled all the chariot teams except a hundred that he kept for his own use.
5
When the Syrians arrived from Damascus to help King Hadadezer, David killed twenty-two thousand of them;
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then he placed a garrison of his troops in Damascus, the Syrian capital. So the Syrians, too, were forced to send him large amounts of money every year. And the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.
7
He brought the gold shields of King Hadadezer’s officers to Jerusalem,
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as well as a great amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s cities of Tibhath and Cun. (King Solomon later melted the bronze and used it for the Temple. He molded it into the bronze tank, the pillars, and the instruments used in offering sacrifices on the altar.)
9
When King Tou of Hamath learned that King David had destroyed Hadadezer’s army,
10
he sent his son Hadoram to greet and congratulate King David on his success and to present him with many gifts of gold, silver, and bronze, seeking an alliance. For Hadadezer and Tou had been enemies and there had been many wars between them.
11
King David dedicated these gifts to the Lord, as he did the silver and gold he took from the nations of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, and the Philistines.
12
Abishai (son of Zeruiah) then destroyed eighteen thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.
13
He put garrisons in Edom and forced the Edomites to pay large sums of money annually to David. This is just another example of how the Lord gave David victory after victory.
14
David reigned over all of Israel and was a just ruler.
15
Joab (son of Zeruiah) was commander-in-chief of the army; Jehoshaphat (son of Ahilud) was the historian;
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Zadok (son of Ahitub) and Ahimelech (son of Abiathar) were the head priests; Shavsha was the king’s special assistant;
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17
Benaiah (son of Jehoiada) was in charge of the king’s bodyguard—the Cherethites and Pelethites—and David’s sons were his chief aides.
“Well,” you may be saying, “what terrible people you have been talking about!” But wait a minute! You are just as bad. When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are talking about yourselves, for you do these very same things.
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And we know that God, in justice, will punish anyone who does such things as these.
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Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and overlook you when you do them, too?
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Don’t you realize how patient he is being with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
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But no, you won’t listen; and so you are saving up terrible punishment for yourselves because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin; for there is going to come a day of wrath when God will be the just Judge of all the world.
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He will give each one whatever his deeds deserve.
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He will give eternal life to those who patiently do the will of God,
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seeking for the unseen glory and honor and eternal life that he offers.
8
But he will terribly punish those who fight against the truth of God and walk in evil ways—God’s anger will be poured out upon them.
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There will be sorrow and suffering for Jews and Gentiles alike who keep on sinning.
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But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who obey him,
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whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
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For God treats everyone the same.
12-15
He will punish sin wherever it is found. He will punish the heathen when they sin, even though they never had God’s written laws, for down in their hearts they know right from wrong. God’s laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or sometimes excuses them. And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have his written laws but don’t obey them. They know what is right but don’t do it. After all, salvation is not given to those who know what to do, unless they do it.
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The day will surely come when at God’s command Jesus Christ will judge the secret lives of everyone, their inmost thoughts and motives; this is all part of God’s great plan, which I proclaim.
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You Jews think all is well between yourselves and God because he gave his laws to you;
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you brag that you are his special friends.
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Yes, you know what he wants; you know right from wrong and favor the right because you have been taught his laws from earliest youth.
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You are so sure of the way to God that you could point it out to a blind man. You think of yourselves as beacon lights, directing men who are lost in darkness to God.
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You think that you can guide the simple and teach even children the affairs of God, for you really know his laws, which are full of all knowledge and truth.
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Yes, you teach others—then why don’t you teach yourselves? You tell others not to steal—do
you
steal?
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You say it is wrong to commit adultery—do
you
do it? You say “Don’t pray to idols” and then make money your god instead.
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23
You are so proud of knowing God’s laws,
but you dishonor him by breaking them.
24
No wonder the Scriptures say that the world speaks evil of God because of you.
The Lord is King forever and forever. Those who follow other gods shall be swept from his land.
17
Lord, you know the hopes of humble people. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort their hearts by helping them.
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You will be with the orphans and all who are oppressed, so that mere earthly man will terrify them no longer.
He who loves wisdom loves his own best interest and will be a success.
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A false witness shall be punished, and a liar shall be caught.
July 15When King Nahash of Ammon died, his son Hanun became the new king.
2-3
Then David declared, “I am going to show friendship to Hanun because of all the kind things his father did for me.”
So David sent a message of sympathy to Hanun for the death of his father. But when David’s ambassadors arrived, King Hanun’s counselors warned him, “Don’t fool yourself that David has sent these men to honor your father! They are here to spy out the land so that they can come in and conquer it!”
4
So King Hanun insulted King David’s ambassadors by shaving their beards and cutting their robes off at the middle to expose their buttocks; then he sent them back to David in shame.
5
When David heard what had happened, he sent a message to his embarrassed emissaries, telling them to stay at Jericho until their beards had grown out again.
6
When King Hanun realized his mistake he sent $2,000,000 to enlist mercenary troops, chariots, and cavalry from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
7
He hired thirty-two thousand chariots, as well as the support of the king of Maacah and his entire army. These forces camped at Medeba where they were joined by the troops King Hanun had recruited from his cities.
8
When David learned of this, he sent Joab and the mightiest warriors of Israel.
9
The army of Ammon went out to meet them and began the battle at the gates of the city of Medeba. Meanwhile, the mercenary forces were out in the field.
10
When Joab realized that the enemy forces were both in front and behind him, he divided his army and sent one group to engage the Syrians.
11
The other group, under the command of his brother Abishai, moved against the Ammonites.
12
“If the Syrians are too strong for me, come and help me,” Joab told his brother; “and if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll come and help you.
13
Be courageous and let us act like men to save our people and the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is best.”
14
So Joab and his troops attacked the Syrians, and the Syrians turned and fled.
15
When the Ammonites, under attack by Abishai’s troops, saw that the Syrians were retreating, they fled into the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem.
16
After their defeat, the Syrians summoned additional troops from east of the Euphrates River, led personally by Shophach, King Hadadezer’s commander-in-chief.
17-18
When this news reached David, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and engaged the enemy troops in battle. But the Syrians again fled from David, and he killed seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand of their troops. He also killed Shophach, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian army.
19
Then King Hadadezer’s troops surrendered to King David and became his subjects. And never again did the Syrians aid the Ammonites in their battles.
20:
1
The following spring (spring was the season when wars usually began) Joab led the Israeli army in successful attacks against the cities and villages of the people of Ammon. After destroying them, he laid siege to Rabbah and conquered it. Meanwhile, David had stayed in Jerusalem.
2
When David arrived on the scene, he removed the crown from the head of King Milcom
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of Rabbah and placed it upon his own head. It was made of gold inlaid with gems and weighed seventy-five pounds! David also took great amounts of plunder from the city.
3
He drove the people from the city and set them to work with saws,
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iron picks, and axes, as was his custom with all the conquered Ammonite peoples. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
4
The next war was against the Philistines again, at Gezer. But Sibbecai, a man from Hushath, killed one of the sons of the giant, Sippai, and so the Philistines surrendered.
5
During another war with the Philistines, Elhanan (the son of Jair) killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the giant; the handle of his spear was like a weaver’s beam!
6-7
During another battle, at Gath, a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (his father was also a giant) defied and taunted Israel; but he was killed by David’s nephew Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.
8
These giants were descendants of the giants of Gath, and they were killed by David and his soldiers.
21:
1
Then Satan brought disaster upon Israel, for he made David decide to take a census.
2
“Take a complete census throughout the land
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and bring me the totals,” he told Joab and the other leaders.
3
But Joab objected. “If the Lord were to multiply his people a hundred times, would they not all be yours? So why are you asking us to do this? Why must you cause Israel to sin?”
4
But the king won the argument, and Joab did as he was told; he traveled all through Israel and returned to Jerusalem.
5
The total population figure which he gave came to 1,100,000 men of military age in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.
6
But he didn’t include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in his figures because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do.
7
And God, too, was displeased with the census and punished Israel for it.
8
But David said to God, “I am the one who has sinned. Please forgive me, for I realize now how wrong I was to do this.”
9
Then the Lord said to Gad, David’s personal prophet,
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“Go and tell David, ‘The Lord has offered you three choices. Which will you choose?
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You may have three years of famine, or three months of destruction by the enemies of Israel, or three days of deadly plague as the Angel of the Lord brings destruction to the land. Think it over and let me know what answer to return to the one who sent me.’”
13
“This is a terrible decision to make,” David replied, “but let me fall into the hands of the Lord rather than into the power of men, for God’s mercies are very great.”
14
So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel and 70,000 men died as a result.
15
During the plague God sent an Angel to destroy Jerusalem; but then he felt such compassion that he changed his mind and commanded the destroying Angel, “Stop! It is enough!” (The Angel of the Lord was standing at the time by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.)
16
When David saw the Angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, pointing toward Jerusalem, he and the elders of Israel clothed themselves in sackcloth and fell to the ground before the Lord.
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And David said to God, “I am the one who sinned by ordering the census. But what have these sheep done? O Lord my God, destroy me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”
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Then the Angel of the Lord told Gad to instruct David to build an altar to the Lord at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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So David went to see Ornan, who was threshing wheat at the time. Ornan saw the Angel as he turned, and his four sons ran and hid.
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Then Ornan saw the king approaching. So he left the threshing floor and bowed to the ground before King David.
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David said to Ornan, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price; then I will build an altar to the Lord and the plague will stop.”
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“Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish,” Ornan said to David. “Take the oxen, too, for burnt offerings; use the threshing instruments for wood for the fire and use the wheat for the grain offering. I give it all to you.”
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“No,” the king replied, “I will buy it for the full price; I cannot take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not offer a burnt offering that has cost me nothing!”
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So David paid Ornan $4,300 in gold
*
26
and built an altar to the Lord there, and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings upon it; and he called out to the Lord, who answered by sending down fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar.
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Then the Lord commanded the Angel to put back his sword into its sheath;
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and when David saw that the Lord had answered his plea, he sacrificed to him again.
29
The Tabernacle and altar made by Moses in the wilderness were on the hill of Gibeon,
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but David didn’t have time to go there to plead before the Lord, for he was terrified by the drawn sword of the Angel of Jehovah.
Being a Jew is worth something if you obey God’s laws; but if you don’t, then you are no better off than the heathen.
26
And if the heathen obey God’s laws, won’t God give them all the rights and honors he planned to give the Jews?
27
In fact, those heathen will be much better off
*
than you Jews who know so much about God and have his promises but don’t obey his laws.
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For you are not real Jews just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision.
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No, a real Jew is anyone whose heart is right with God. For God is not looking for those who cut their bodies in actual body circumcision, but he is looking for those with changed hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God, even if not from you.
3:
1
Then what’s the use of being a Jew? Are there any special benefits for them from God? Is there any value in the Jewish circumcision ceremony?
2
Yes, being a Jew has many advantages.
First of all, God trusted them with his laws so that they could know and do his will.
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3
True, some of them were unfaithful, but just because they broke their promises to God, does that mean God will break his promises?
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Of course not! Though everyone else in the world is a liar, God is not. Do you remember what the book of Psalms says about this?
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That God’s words will always prove true and right, no matter who questions them.
5
“But,” some say, “our breaking faith with God is good, our sins serve a good purpose, for people will notice how good God is when they see how bad we are. Is it fair, then, for him to punish us when our sins are helping him?” (That is the way some people talk.)
6
God forbid! Then what kind of God would he be, to overlook sin? How could he ever condemn anyone?
7
For he could not judge and condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty brought him glory by pointing up his honesty in contrast to my lies.
8
If you follow through with that idea you come to this: the worse we are, the better God likes it! But the damnation of those who say such things is just. Yet some claim that this is what I preach!
How dare you tell me, “Flee
*
to the mountains for safety,” when I am trusting in the Lord?
2
For the wicked have strung their bows, drawn their arrows tight against the bowstrings, and aimed from ambush at the people of God.
3
“Law and order have collapsed,”
*
we are told. “What can the righteous do but flee?”
4
But the Lord is still in his holy temple; he still rules from heaven. He closely watches everything that happens here on earth.
5
He puts the righteous and the wicked to the test; he hates those loving violence.
6
He will rain down fire and brimstone on the wicked and scorch them with his burning wind.
7
For God is good, and he loves goodness; the godly shall see his face.
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It doesn’t seem right for a fool to succeed or for a slave to rule over princes!
11
A wise man restrains his anger and overlooks insults. This is to his credit.
12
The king’s anger is as dangerous as a lion’s. But his approval is as refreshing as the dew on grass.