11 Now it came about after the death of Saul , when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites , that David remained two days in Ziklag . 2 On the third day , behold , a man came out of the camp from Saul , with his clothes torn and [1]dust on his head . And it came about when he came to David that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. 3 Then David said to him, "From where do you come ?" And he said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel ." 4 David said to him, " How did things go ? Please tell me." And he said , "The people have fled from the battle , and also many of the people have fallen and are dead ; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also ." 5 So David said to the young man who told him, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead ?" 6 The young man who told him said , "By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa , and behold , Saul was leaning on his spear . And behold , the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely . 7 "When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said , 'Here I am.' 8 "He said to me, 'Who are you?' And I [2]answered him, ' I am an Amalekite .' 9 "Then he said to me, 'Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my [3]life still lingers in me.' 10 "So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen . And I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm , and I have brought them here to my lord ."
11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel , because they had fallen by the sword . 13 David said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" And he [4]answered , " I am the son of an alien , an Amalekite ." 14 Then David said to him, "How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord'S anointed ?" 15 And David called one of the young men and said , "Go , [5]cut him down ." So he struck him and he died . 16 David said to him, " Your blood is on your head , for your mouth has testified against you, saying , 'I have killed the Lord'S anointed .' "
17 Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son , 18 and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow ; behold , it is written in the book of Jashar . 19 "[6]Your beauty , O Israel , is slain on your high places ! How have the mighty fallen ! 20 " Tell it not in Gath , Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon , Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice , The daughters of the uncircumcised will exult . 21 " O mountains of Gilboa , Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings ; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled , The shield of Saul , not anointed with oil . 22 " From the blood of the slain , from the fat of the mighty , The bow of Jonathan did not turn back , And the sword of Saul did not return empty . 23 "Saul and Jonathan , beloved and pleasant in their life , And in their death they were not parted ; They were swifter than eagles , They were stronger than lions . 24 "O daughters of Israel , weep over Saul , Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet , Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel . 25 " How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle ! Jonathan is slain on your high places . 26 "I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan ; You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful Than the love of women . 27 " How have the mighty fallen , And the weapons of war perished !"
21 Then it came about afterwards e that David inquired of the Lord , saying , "Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah ?" And the Lord said to him, "Go up." So David said , "Where shall I go up?" And He said , " To Hebron ." 2 So David went up there , and his two wives also , Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite . 3 And David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household ; and they lived in the cities of Hebron . 4 Then the men of Judah came and there anointed David king over the house of Judah . And they told David , saying, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead e who buried Saul ." 5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead e , and said to them, " May you be blessed of the Lord because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord , and have buried him. 6 "Now may the Lord show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing . 7 "Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant e ; for Saul your lord is dead , and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."
8 But Abner the son of Ner , commander of Saul's army , had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim . 9 He made him king over Gilead , over the Ashurites , over Jezreel , over Ephraim , and over Benjamin , even over all Israel . 10 Ish-bosheth , Saul's son , was forty years old when he became king over Israel , and he was king for two years . The house of Judah , however , followed David . 11 The time e that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months . 12 Now Abner the son of Ner , went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul . 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon ; and they sat down , one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool . 14 Then Abner said to Joab , "Now let the young men arise and hold a contest before us." And Joab said , "Let them arise ." 15 So they arose and went over by count , twelve e for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul , and twelve e of the servants of David . 16 Each one of them seized his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side ; so they fell down together . Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim , which is in Gibeon . 17 That day the battle was very severe , and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David .
18 Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there , Joab and Abishai and Asahel ; and Asahel was as swift-footed e as one of the gazelles which is in the field . 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn to the right or to the left from following Abner . 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said , "Is that you, Asahel ?" And he answered , "It is I." 21 So Abner said to him, "Turn to your right or to your left , and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil ." But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22 Abner repeated e again to Asahel , "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground ? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab ?" 23 However, he refused to turn aside ; therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear , so that the spear came out at his back . And he fell there and died on the spot . And it came about that all who came to the place where e Asahel had fallen and died , stood still . 24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner , and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah , which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon .
25 The sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band , and they stood on the top of a certain hill . 26 Then Abner called to Joab and said , "Shall the sword devour forever ? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end ? How long e will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers ?" 27 Joab said , "As God lives , if you had not spoken , surely then the people would have gone away in the morning , each from following his brother ." 28 So Joab blew the trumpet ; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer , nor did they continue to fight anymore . 29 Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night ; so they crossed the Jordan , walked all morning , and came to Mahanaim . 30 Then Joab returned from following Abner ; when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen e of David's servants besides Asahel were missing . 31 But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner's men , so that three hundred and sixty men died . 32 And they took up Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb which was in Bethlehem . Then Joab and his men went all night until the day dawned at Hebron .
141 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread , they were watching Him closely . 2 And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy . 3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees , saying , " Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath , or not?" 4 But they kept silent . And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away . 5 And He said to them, " Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well , and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day ?" 6 And they could make no reply to this .
7 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast , do not take the place of honor , for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both e will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man ,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place . 10 "But when you are invited , go and recline at the last place , so that when the one who has invited you comes , he may say to you, 'Friend , move up higher '; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11 " For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled , and he who humbles himself will be exalted ." 12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner , do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors , otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment . 13 "But when you give a reception , invite the poor , the crippled , the lame , the blind , 14 and you will be blessed , since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous ."
15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this , he said to Him, " Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God !" 16 But He said to him, " A man was giving a big dinner , and he invited many ; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited , 'Come ; for everything is ready now .' 18 "But they all alike e began to make excuses . The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused .' 19 "Another one said , 'I have bought five yoke of oxen , and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused .' 20 "Another one said , ' I have married a wife , and for that reason I cannot e come .' 21 "And the slave came back and reported this to his master . Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave , 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame .' 22 "And the slave said , 'Master , what you commanded has been done , and still there is room .' 23 "And the master said to the slave , 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges , and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled . 24 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner .' "
(Read Luke 14:1-6)
This Pharisee, as well as others, seems to have had an ill design in entertaining Jesus at his house. But our Lord would not be hindered from healing a man, though he knew a clamour would be raised at his doing it on the sabbath. It requires care to understand the proper connexion between piety and charity in observing the sabbath, and the distinction between works of real necessity and habits of self-indulgence. Wisdom from above, teaches patient perseverance in well-doing.
(Read Luke 14:7-14)
Even in the common actions of life, Christ marks what we do, not only in our religious assemblies, but at our tables. We see in many cases, that a man's pride will bring him low, and before honour is humility. Our Saviour here teaches, that works of charity are better than works of show. But our Lord did not mean that a proud and unbelieving liberality should be rewarded, but that his precept of doing good to the poor and afflicted should be observed from love to him.
(Read Luke 14:15-24)
In this parable observe the free grace and mercy of God shining in the gospel of Christ, which will be food and a feast for the soul of a man that knows its own wants and miseries. All found some pretence to put off their attendance. This reproves the Jewish nation for their neglect of the offers of Christ's grace. It shows also the backwardness there is to close with the gospel call. The want of gratitude in those who slight gospel offers, and the contempt put upon the God of heaven thereby, justly provoke him. The apostles were to turn to the Gentiles, when the Jews refused the offer; and with them the church was filled. The provision made for precious souls in the gospel of Christ, has not been made in vain; for if some reject, others will thankfully accept the offer. The very poor and low in the world, shall be as welcome to Christ as the rich and great; and many times the gospel has the greatest success among those that labour under worldly disadvantages and bodily infirmities. Christ's house shall at last be filled; it will be so when the number of the elect is completed.
