Day 184 of 365

¹Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:

²"The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,

⁴shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.'

⁵Most certainly my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he doesn't make it grow.

⁶But all of the ungodly shall be as thorns to be thrust away, because they can't be taken with the hand,

⁷But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear. They shall be utterly burned with fire in their place."

⁸These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb Basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time.

⁹After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away.

¹⁰He arose, and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to the sword; and the Lord worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take spoil.

¹¹After him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. The Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Philistines.

¹²But he stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the Lord worked a great victory.

¹³Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁴David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

¹⁵David longed, and said, "Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"

¹⁶The three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to the Lord.

¹⁷He said, "Be it far from me, Lord, that I should do this! Isn't it the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

¹⁸Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.

¹⁹Wasn't he most honorable of the three? Therefore he was made their captain: however he did not attain to the three.

²⁰Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he went down also and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.

²¹He killed an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear.

²²Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name among the three mighty men.

²³He was more honorable than the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. David set him over his guard.

²⁴Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

²⁷Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

²⁹Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,

³⁰Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash.

³¹Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

³³Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite,

³⁴Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

³⁵Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

³⁶Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers to Joab the son of Zeruiah,

³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

³⁹Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

¹Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah."

²The king said to Joab the captain of the army, who was with him, "Now go back and forth through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the sum of the people."

³Joab said to the king, "Now may the Lord your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?"

⁴Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army. Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

⁵They passed over the Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Jazer:

⁶then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; and they came to Dan Jaan, and around to Sidon,

⁷and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites; and they went out to the south of Judah, at Beersheba.

⁸So when they had gone back and forth through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰David's heart struck him after that he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in that which I have done. But now, Lord, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly."

¹¹When David rose up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

¹²"Go and speak to David, 'Thus says the Lord, "I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you."'"

¹³So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me."

¹⁴David said to Gad, "I am in distress. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into the hand of man."

¹⁵So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

¹⁶When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough. Now stay your hand." The angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, "Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father's house."

¹⁸Gad came that day to David, and said to him, "Go up, build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

¹⁹David went up according to the saying of Gad, as the Lord commanded.

²⁰Araunah looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. Then Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people."

²²Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood:

²³all this, king, does Araunah give to the king." Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you."

²⁴The king said to Araunah, "No; but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵David built an altar to the Lord there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

¹Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn't keep warm.

²Therefore his servants said to him, "Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin. Let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm."

³So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

⁴The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king did not know her intimately.

⁵Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

⁶His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, "Why have you done so?" and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom.

⁷He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.

⁸But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah killed sheep and cattle and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants:

¹⁰but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he did not call.

¹¹Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Haven't you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn't know it?

¹²Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you may save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³Go in to king David, and tell him, 'Did you not, my lord, king, swear to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?'

¹⁴Behold, while you yet talk there with the king, I also will come in after you, and confirm your words."

¹⁵Bathsheba went in to the king into the room. The king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.

¹⁶Bathsheba bowed, and showed respect to the king. The king said, "What would you like?"

¹⁷She said to him, "My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your handmaid, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.'

¹⁸Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king, do not know it.

¹⁹He has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn't called Solomon your servant.

²⁰You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders."

²²Behold, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

²³They told the king, saying, "Behold, Nathan the prophet!" When he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²⁴Nathan said, "My lord, king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?'

²⁵For he is gone down this day, and has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, 'Long live king Adonijah!'

²⁶But he hasn't called me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon.

²⁷Is this thing done by my lord the king, and you haven't shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"

²⁸Then king David answered, "Call to me Bathsheba." She came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.

²⁹The king swore, and said, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

³⁰most certainly as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place;' most certainly so will I do this day."

³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and showed respect to the king, and said, "Let my lord king David live forever!"

³²King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." They came before the king.

³³The king said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

³⁴Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel. Blow the trumpet, and say, 'Long live king Solomon!'

³⁵Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne; for he shall be king in my place. I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah."

³⁶Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, "Amen. May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so.

³⁷As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David."

³⁸So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride on king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.

³⁹Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said, "Long live king Solomon!"

⁴⁰All the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with their sound.

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?"

⁴²While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, "Come in; for you are a worthy man, and bring good news."

⁴³Jonathan answered Adonijah, "Most certainly our lord king David has made Solomon king.

⁴⁴The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride on the king's mule.

⁴⁵Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. They have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard.

⁴⁶Also, Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.

⁴⁷Moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, 'May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne;' and the king bowed himself on the bed.

⁴⁸Also thus said the king, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, my eyes even seeing it.'"

⁴⁹All the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and each man went his way.

⁵⁰Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

⁵¹It was told Solomon, saying, "Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for, behold, he has laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let king Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'"

⁵²Solomon said, "If he shows himself a worthy man, not a hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die."

⁵³So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. He came and bowed down to king Solomon; and Solomon said to him, "Go to your house."

¹ALEPH I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.

²My soul shall boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.

³Oh magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.

⁴I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.

⁶This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹Oh fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for there is no lack with those who fear him.

¹⁰The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

¹¹Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹²Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?

¹³Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it.

¹⁵The Lord's eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.

¹⁶The Lord's face is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷They cried, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

²⁰He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.

²¹Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

²²The Lord redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.

¹He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.

²When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

³Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

⁴The king by justice makes the land stable, but he who takes bribes tears it down.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁶An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.

⁷The righteous care about justice for the poor. The wicked aren't concerned about knowledge.

⁸Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.

⁹If a wise man goes to court with a foolish man, the fool rages or scoffs, and there is no peace.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity; and they seek the life of the upright.

¹¹A fool vents all of his anger, but a wise man brings himself under control.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

¹⁴The king who fairly judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.

¹⁵The rod of correction gives wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, sin increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.

¹⁷Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.

¹⁸Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the Law is blessed.

¹⁹A servant can't be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.

²⁰Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹He who pampers his servant from youth will have him become a son in the end.

²²An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin.

²³A man's pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor.

²⁴Whoever is an accomplice of a thief is an enemy of his own soul. He takes an oath, but dares not testify.

²⁵The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in the Lord is kept safe.

²⁶Many seek the ruler's favor, but a man's justice comes from the Lord.

²⁷A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.