1 Now it happened that Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon, died, and his son reigned in his place.
2 And David said: “I will act with mercy toward Hanun, the son of Nahash. For his father was gracious to me.” And so David sent messengers to console him over the death of his father. But when they had reached the land of the sons of Ammon, so that they might console Hanun,
3 the leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun: “Do you think that perhaps David has sent them to console you in order to honor your father? Have you not noticed that his servants came to you so that they might explore, and investigate, and examine your land?”
4 And so Hanun shaved the heads and beards of the servants of David, and he cut away their tunics from the buttocks to the feet, and he sent them away.
5 And when they had gone, and had sent word to David, (for they had suffered a great disgrace,) he sent to meet them, and he instructed them that they should remain at Jericho until their beards grew, and then they should return.
6 Then, when the sons of Ammon realized that they had committed an injury against David, both Hanun and the rest of the people sent one thousand talents of silver, so that they might hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, and from Syrian Maacah, and from Zobah.
7 And they hired thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah with his people. When these had arrived, they made camp in the region opposite Medeba. Also, the sons of Ammon, gathering from their cities, went to war.
8 And when David had heard this, he sent Joab and the entire army of strong men.
9 And the sons of Ammon, going out, set up a battle line before the gate of the city. But the kings who had come to their aid stood separately in the field.
10 And so Joab, understanding the war to be set facing him and behind his back, chose the strongest men from all of Israel, and he went out against the Syrians.
11 But the remaining portion of the people he placed under the hand of his brother Abishai. And they went out against the sons of Ammon.
12 And he said: “If the Syrians prevail over me, then you shall be a help to me. But if the sons of Ammon prevail over you, I will be a safeguard for you.
13 Be strengthened, and let us act manfully on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the cities of our God. And the Lord will do what is good in his own sight.”
14 Therefore, Joab, and the people who were with him, went out to battle against the Syrians. And he put them to flight.
15 Then the sons of Ammon, seeing that the Syrians had fled, also themselves fled from Abishai, his brother, and they entered into the city. And now Joab returned to Jerusalem.
16 But the Syrians, seeing that they had fallen before Israel, sent messengers, and they brought the Syrians who were across the river. And Shophach, the leader of the military of Hadadezer, was their commander.
17 When this had been reported to David, he gathered together all of Israel, and he crossed the Jordan. And he rushed toward them. And he set up a battle line facing them. And they fought against him.
18 But the Syrians fled from Israel. And David killed of the Syrians seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand men on foot, and Shophach, the leader of the army.
19 Then the servants of Hadadezer, seeing themselves to be overwhelmed by Israel, crossed over to David, and they served him. And Syria was no longer willing to offer aid to the sons of Ammon.
1 Now it happened that, after the course of a year, in the time when kings usually go forth to war, Joab gathered an army with experienced soldiers, and he laid waste to the land of the sons of Ammon. And he continued on and besieged Rabbah. But David was staying in Jerusalem when Joab struck Rabbah and destroyed it.
2 Then David took the crown of Milcom from his head, and he found in it the weight of one talent of gold, and very precious gems. And he made for himself a diadem from it. Also, he took the best spoils of the city, which were very many.
3 Then he led away the people who were in it. And he caused plows, and sleds, and iron chariots to go over them, so much so that they were cut apart and crushed. So did David treat all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And he returned with all his people to Jerusalem.
4 After these things, a war was begun at Gezer against the Philistines, in which Sibbecai the Hushathite struck Sippai from the race of the Rephaim, and he humbled them.
5 Also, another war was undertaken against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus, a son of the forest, a Bethlehemite, struck the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the wood of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
6 Then too, another war occurred in Gath, in which there was a very tall man, having six digits, that is, all together twenty-four. This man too was born from the stock of the Rephaim.
7 He blasphemed Israel. And Jonathan, the son of Shimea, the brother of David, struck him down. These were the sons of the Rephaim in Gath, who fell by the hand of David and his servants.
1 Now Satan rose up against Israel, and he incited David so that he would number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people: “Go, and number Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan. And bring me the number, so that I may know it.”
3 And Joab responded: “May the Lord increase his people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all your servants? Why would my lord seek this thing, which may be imputed as a sin to Israel?”
4 But the word of the king prevailed instead. And Joab went away, and he traveled around, through all of Israel. And he returned to Jerusalem.
5 And he gave to David the number of those whom he had surveyed. And the entire number of Israel was found to be one million and one hundred thousand men who could draw the sword; but from Judah, there were four hundred and seventy thousand men of war.
6 But Levi and Benjamin he did not number. For Joab executed the orders of the king unwillingly.
7 Then God was displeased with what had been ordered, and so he struck Israel.
8 And David said to God: “I have sinned exceedingly in doing this. I beg you take away the iniquity of your servant. For I have acted unwisely.”
9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, the seer of David, saying:
10 Go, and speak to David, and tell him: Thus says the Lord: I give to you the option of three things. Choose the one that you will want, and I will do it to you.
11 And when Gad had gone to David, he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Choose what you will want:
12 Either three years of famine, or three months for you to flee from your enemies, unable to escape from their sword, or three days for the sword of the Lord and a pestilence to turn within the land, with the Angel of the Lord killing in every part of Israel. Now therefore, see what I should respond to him who sent me.”
13 And David said to Gad: “There are difficulties pressing upon me from every side. But it is better for me to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, than into the hands of men.”
14 Therefore, the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell from Israel seventy thousand men.
15 Also, he sent an Angel to Jerusalem, so that he might strike it. And while he was striking, the Lord saw and took pity over the magnitude of the harm. And he commanded the Angel who was striking: “It is enough. Now let your hand cease.” And the Angel of the Lord was standing beside the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 And David, lifting up his eyes, saw the Angel of the Lord, standing between heaven and earth with a drawn sword in his hand, turned toward Jerusalem. And both he and those greater by birth, being clothed in haircloth, fell prone upon the ground.
17 And David said to God: “Am I not the one who ordered that the people be numbered? It is I who sinned; it is I who did evil. This flock, what does it deserve? O Lord my God, I beg you to let your hand be turned against me and against the house of my father. But let not your people be struck down.”
18 Then the Angel of the Lord instructed Gad to tell David that he should ascend and build an altar to the Lord God on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 Therefore, David ascended, in accord with the word of Gad, which he had spoken to him in the name of the Lord.
20 Now when Ornan had looked up and seen the Angel, he and his four sons hid themselves. For at that time, he was threshing wheat upon the floor.
21 Then, as David was approaching Ornan, Ornan saw him, and he went out from the threshing floor to meet him. And he reverenced him prone on the ground.
22 And David said to him: “Give this place of your threshing floor to me, so that I may build an altar to the Lord upon it. And you shall accept from me as much money as it is worth, so that the plague may cease from the people.”
23 But Ornan said to David: “Take it, and may my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Moreover, I give the oxen also as a holocaust, and the plow for wood, and the wheat for a sacrifice. I will offer all freely.”
24 And king David said to him: “By no means shall it be so. Instead, I will give money to you, as much as it is worth. For I must not take it from you, and thereby offer to the Lord holocausts that cost nothing.”
25 Therefore, David gave Ornan, for the place, the very just weight of six hundred shekels of gold.
26 And he built an altar to the Lord there. And he offered holocausts and peace offerings, and he called upon the Lord. And he heeded him by sending fire from heaven upon the altar of the holocaust.
27 And the Lord instructed the Angel, and he turned his sword back into its sheath.
28 Then, seeing that the Lord had heeded him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, David immediately immolated victims there.
29 But the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of holocausts, were at that time on the high place of Gibeon.
30 And David was unable to go to the altar, so that he might pray to God there. For he had been struck with an exceedingly great fear, seeing the sword of the Angel of the Lord.
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1 It pleased Darius, and so he appointed over the kingdom one hundred twenty governors, to be placed throughout his whole kingdom.
2 And over these, three leaders, of whom Daniel was one, so that the governors would be accountable to them and the king would have no trouble.
3 And so Daniel excelled above all the leaders and governors, because a greater spirit of God was in him.
4 Furthermore, the king considered setting him over the entire kingdom; whereupon the leaders and the governors sought to find a complaint against Daniel and in favor of the king. And they could find no case, or even suspicion, because he was faithful, and no fault or suspicion was found in him.
5 Therefore, these men said, “We will not find any complaint against this Daniel, unless it is against the law of his God.”
6 Then the leaders and governors took the king aside privately and spoke to him in this way: “King Darius, live forever.
7 All the leaders of your kingdom, the magistrates and governors, the senators and judges, have taken counsel that an imperial decree and edict should be published, so that all who ask any petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, will be cast into the den of lions.
8 Now, therefore, O king, confirm this judgment and write the decree, so that what is established by the Medes and Persians may not be altered, nor will any man be allowed to transgress it.”
9 And so king Darius set forth the decree and established it.
10 Now when Daniel learned of this, namely, that the law had been established, he entered his house, and, opening the windows in his upper room towards Jerusalem, he knelt down three times a day, and he adored and gave thanks before his God, as he had been accustomed to do previously.
11 Therefore, these men, inquiring diligently, discovered that Daniel was praying and making supplication to his God.
12 And they approached and spoke to the king about the edict. “O king, did you not decree that every man who makes a request to any of the gods or men for thirty days, except to yourself, O king, would be cast into the den of lions?” To which the king replied, saying, “The sentence is true, and according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, it is not lawful to violate it.”
13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, of the sons of the captivity of Judah, is not concerned about your law, nor about the decree that you have established, but three times a day he prays his supplication.”
14 Now when the king had heard these words, he was greatly grieved, and, on behalf of Daniel, he set his heart to free him, and he labored even until sunset to rescue him.
15 But these men, knowing the king, said to him, “You know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that every decree which the king has established may not be altered.”
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. And the king said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you always serve, he himself will free you.”
17 And a stone was brought, and it was placed over the mouth of the den, which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his nobles, so that no one would act against Daniel.
18 And the king departed into his house, and he went to bed without eating, and food was not set before him, moreover, even sleep fled from him.
19 Then the king, getting himself up at first light, went quickly to the den of lions.
20 And coming near to the den, he cried out with a tearful voice to Daniel and spoke to him. “Daniel, servant of the living God, your God, whom you serve always, do you believe he has prevailed to free you from the lions?”
21 And Daniel, answering the king, said, “O king, live forever.
22 My God has sent his angel, and he has closed the mouths of the lions, and they have not harmed me, because before him justice has been found in me, and, even before you, O king, I have committed no offense.”
23 Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and he commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den. And Daniel was taken out of the den, and no wound was found in him, because he believed in his God.
24 Moreover, by order of the king, those men were brought who had accused Daniel, and they were cast into the lions’ den, they, and their sons, and their wives, and they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions seized them and crushed all their bones.
25 Then king Darius wrote to all peoples, tribes, and languages dwelling in all the land. “May peace be increased with you.
26 It is hereby established by my decree that, in all my empire and my kingdom, they shall begin to tremble and fear the God of Daniel. For he is the living and eternal God forever, and his kingdom will not be destroyed, and his power will last forever.
27 He is the liberator and the savior, performing signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has freed Daniel from the lions’ den.”
28 Thereafter, Daniel continued through the reign of Darius until the reign of Cyrus, the Persian.
13 That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance.
15 Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.
16 Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.
18 If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.
19 According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us be at peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 For through him we also have access by faith to this grace, in which we stand firm, and to glory, in the hope of the glory of the sons of God.
3 And not only that, but we also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation exercises patience,
4 and patience leads to proving, yet truly proving leads to hope,
5 but hope is not unfounded, because the love of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 Yet why did Christ, while we were still infirm, at the proper time, suffer death for the impious?
7 Now someone might barely be willing to die for the sake of justice, for example, perhaps someone might dare to die for the sake of a good man.
8 But God demonstrates his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, at the proper time,
9 Christ died for us. Therefore, having been justified now by his blood, all the more so shall we be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, while we were still enemies, all the more so, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 And not only that, but we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin, death; so also death was transferred to all men, to all who have sinned.
13 For even before the law, sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed while the law did not exist.
14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses, even in those who have not sinned, in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.
15 But the gift is not entirely like the offense. For though by the offense of one, many died, yet much more so, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, has the grace and gift of God abounded to many.
16 And the sin through one is not entirely like the gift. For certainly, the judgment of one was unto condemnation, but the grace toward many offenses is unto justification.
17 For though, by the one offense, death reigned through one, yet so much more so shall those who receive an abundance of grace, both of the gift and of justice, reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, just as through the offense of one, all men fell under condemnation, so also through the justice of one, all men fall under justification unto life.
19 For, just as through the disobedience of one man, many were established as sinners, so also through the obedience of one man, many shall be established as just.
20 Now the law entered in such a way that offenses would abound. But where offenses were abundant, grace was superabundant.
21 So then, just as sin has reigned unto death, so also may grace reign through justice unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
