The Living Bible (105 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted year after year for three years, and David spent much time in prayer about it. Then the Lord said, “The famine is because of the guilt of Saul and his family, for they murdered the Gibeonites.”
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So King David summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were what was left of the nation of the Amorites. Israel had sworn not to kill them; but Saul, in his nationalistic zeal, had tried to wipe them out.
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David asked them, “What can I do for you to rid ourselves of this guilt and to induce you to ask God to bless us?”
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“Well, money won’t do it,” the Gibeonites replied, “and we don’t want to see Israelites executed in revenge.”
“What can I do, then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”
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“Well, then,” they replied, “give us seven of Saul’s sons—the sons of the man who did his best to destroy us. We will hang them before the Lord in Gibeon, the city of King Saul.”
“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”
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He spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath between himself and Jonathan.
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But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five adopted sons of Michal that she brought up for Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel.
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The men of Gibeon impaled them in the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
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Then Rizpah, the mother of two of the men,
*
spread sackcloth upon a rock and stayed there through the entire harvest season
*
to prevent the vultures from tearing at their bodies during the day and the wild animals from eating them at night.
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When David learned what she had done,
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he arranged for the men’s bones to be buried in the grave of Saul’s father, Kish. At the same time he sent a request to the men of Jabesh-gilead, asking them to bring him the bones of Saul and Jonathan. They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth-shan where the Philistines had impaled them after they had died in battle on Mount Gilboa. So their bones were brought to him. Then at last God answered prayer and ended the famine.
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Once when the Philistines were at war with Israel, and David and his men were in the thick of the battle, David became weak and exhausted.
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Ishbi-benob, a giant whose speartip weighed more than twelve pounds and who was sporting a new suit of armor, closed in on David and was about to kill him.
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But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After that David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle again! Why should we risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”
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Later, during a war with the Philistines at Gob, Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another giant.
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At still another time and at the same place, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,
*
whose spear handle was as huge as a weaver’s beam!
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And once when the Philistines and the Israelis were fighting at Gath, a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot defied Israel, and David’s nephew Jonathan—the son of David’s brother Shimei—killed him.
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These four were from the tribe of giants in Gath and were killed by David’s troops.
David sang this song to the Lord after he had rescued him from Saul and from all his other enemies:
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“Jehovah is my rock,
My fortress and my savior.
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I will hide in God,
Who is my rock and my refuge.
He is my shield
And my salvation,
My refuge and high tower.
Thank you, O my Savior,
For saving me from all my enemies.
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I will call upon the Lord,
Who is worthy to be praised;
He will save me from all my enemies.
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The waves of death surrounded me;
Floods of evil burst upon me;
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I was trapped and bound
By hell and death;
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But I called upon the Lord in my distress,
And he heard me from his Temple.
My cry reached his ears.
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Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the heavens quaked
Because of his wrath.
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Smoke poured from his nostrils;
Fire leaped from his mouth
And burned up all before him,
Setting fire to the world.
*
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He bent the heavens down and came to earth;
He walked upon dark clouds.
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He rode upon the glorious—
On the wings of the wind.
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Darkness surrounded him,
And clouds were thick around him;
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The earth was radiant with his brightness.
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The Lord thundered from heaven;
The God above all gods gave out a mighty shout.
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He shot forth his arrows of lightning
And routed his enemies.
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By the blast of his breath
Was the sea split in two.
The bottom of the sea appeared.
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From above, he rescued me.
He drew me out from the waters;
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He saved me from powerful enemies,
From those who hated me
And from those who were too strong for me.
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They came upon me
In the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my salvation.
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He set me free and rescued me,
For I was his delight.
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The Lord rewarded me for my goodness,
For my hands were clean;
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And I have not departed from my God.
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I knew his laws,
And I obeyed them.
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I was perfect in obedience
And kept myself from sin.
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That is why the Lord has done so much for me,
For he sees that I am clean.
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You are merciful to the merciful;
You show your perfections
To the blameless.
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To those who are pure,
You show yourself pure;
But you destroy those who are evil.
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You will save those in trouble,
But you bring down the haughty;
For you watch their every move.
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O Lord, you are my light!
You make my darkness bright.
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By your power I can crush an army;
By your strength I leap over a wall.
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As for God, his way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is true.
He shields all who hide behind him.
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Our Lord alone is God;
We have no other Savior.
*
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God is my strong fortress;
He has made me safe.
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He causes the good to walk a steady tread
Like mountain goats upon the rocks.
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He gives me skill in war
And strength to bend a bow of bronze.
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You have given me the shield of your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
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You have made wide steps for my feet,
To keep them from slipping.
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I have chased my enemies
And destroyed them.
I did not stop till all were gone.
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I have destroyed them
So that none can rise again.
They have fallen beneath my feet.
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For you have given me strength for the battle
And have caused me to subdue
All those who rose against me.
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You have made my enemies
Turn and run away;
I have destroyed them all.
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They looked in vain for help;
They cried to God,
But he refused to answer.
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I beat them into dust;
I crushed and scattered them
Like dust along the streets.
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You have preserved me
From the rebels of my people;
You have preserved me
As the head of the nations.
Foreigners shall serve me
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And shall quickly submit to me
When they hear of my power.
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They shall lose heart
And come, trembling,
From their hiding places.
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The Lord lives.
Blessed be my Rock.
Praise to him—
The Rock of my salvation.
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Blessed be God
Who destroys those who oppose me
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And rescues me from my enemies.
Yes, you hold me safe above their heads.
You deliver me from violence.
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No wonder I give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations,
And sing praises to your name.
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He gives wonderful deliverance to his king
And shows mercy to his anointed—
To David and his family,
Forever.”
