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From Kindness to Catastrophe: David's Rise and Fall — March 26

2 Samuel 9-12

2 Samuel 9

1 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him [a] kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 365N 85.1

2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “ Are you Ziba?” He said, “At your service!” 365N 85.2

3 Then the king said, “ Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.” 365N 85.3

4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.” 365N 85.4

5 Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar. 365N 85.5

6 Now when Mephibosheth [b] the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he answered, “Here is your servant!” 365N 85.6

7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” 365N 85.7

8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?” 365N 85.8

9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 365N 85.9

10 You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 365N 85.10

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.” “As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at [c] my table like one of the king’s sons.” 365N 85.11

12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 365N 85.12

13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet. 365N 85.13

2 Samuel 10

1 It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 365N 85.14

2 Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. 365N 85.15

3 And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?” 365N 85.16

4 Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. 365N 85.17

5 When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly [a] ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.” 365N 85.18

6 When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah one thousand men, and from Ish-Tob twelve thousand men. 365N 85.19

7 Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 365N 85.20

8 Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field. 365N 85.21

9 When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. 365N 85.22

10 And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. 365N 85.23

11 Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 365N 85.24

12 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” 365N 85.25

13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 365N 85.26

14 When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to Jerusalem. 365N 85.27

15 When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. 365N 85.28

16 Then [b] Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond [c] the River, and they came to Helam. And [d] Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. 365N 85.29

17 When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. 365N 85.30

18 Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. 365N 85.31

19 And when all the kings who were servants to [e] Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore. 365N 85.32

2 Samuel 11

1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 365N 85.33

2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 365N 85.34

3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “ Is this not [a] Bathsheba, the daughter of [b] Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 365N 85.35

4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 365N 85.36

5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” 365N 85.37

6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 365N 85.38

7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 365N 85.39

8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 365N 85.40

9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 365N 85.41

10 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 365N 85.42

11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 365N 85.43

12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 365N 85.44

13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 365N 85.45

14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 365N 85.46

15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the [c] hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” 365N 85.47

16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 365N 85.48

17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 365N 85.49

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 365N 85.50

19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 365N 85.51

20 if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 365N 85.52

21 Who struck Abimelech the son of [d] Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ” 365N 85.53

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 365N 85.54

23 And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. 365N 85.55

24 The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 365N 85.56

25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing [e] displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.” 365N 85.57

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 365N 85.58

27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased [f] the Lord . 365N 85.59

2 Samuel 12

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 365N 85.60

2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 365N 85.61

3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 365N 85.62

4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 365N 85.63

5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “ As the Lord lives, the man who has done this [a] shall surely die! 365N 85.64

6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 365N 85.65

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 365N 85.66

8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 365N 85.67

9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord , to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 365N 85.68

10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 365N 85.69

11 Thus says the Lord : ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 365N 85.70

12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ” 365N 85.71

13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 365N 85.72

14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 365N 85.73

15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 365N 85.74

16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 365N 85.75

17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 365N 85.76

18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!” 365N 85.77

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 365N 85.78

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 365N 85.79

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 365N 85.80

22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether [b] the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 365N 85.81

23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” 365N 85.82

24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he [c] called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 365N 85.83

25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So [d] he called his name [e] Jedidiah, because of the Lord . 365N 85.84

26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. 365N 85.85

27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. 365N 85.86

28 Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” 365N 85.87

29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. 365N 85.88

30 Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the [f] spoil of the city in great abundance. 365N 85.89

31 And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. 365N 85.90