231 Now these are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, says, the man who was lifted up on high, the man on whom the God of Jacob put the holy oil, the loved one of Israel's songs, says: 2 The spirit of the Lord had voice through me, his word was on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel said, the word of the Rock of Israel came to me: When an upright king is ruling over men, when he is ruling in the fear of God, 4 It is as the light of the morning, when the sun comes up, a morning without clouds; making young grass come to life from the earth. 5 For is not my house so with God? For he has made with me an eternal agreement, ordered in all things and certain: as for all my salvation and all my desire, will he not give it increase? 6 But the evil-doers, all of them, will be like thorns to be pushed away, because they may not be gripped in the hand: 7 But anyone touching them has to be armed with iron and the rod of a spear; and they will be burned with fire, every one of them.
8 These are the names of David's men of war: Ishbaal the Hachmonite, chief of the three; his axe was lifted up against eight hundred put to death at one time. 9 After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite, one of the three great fighters, who was with David in Pas-dammim when the Philistines came together there for the fight; and when the men of Israel had gone in flight, 10 He was with David and went on fighting the Philistines till his hand became tired and stiff from gripping his sword: and that day the Lord gave a great salvation, and the people came back after him only to take the goods of the Philistines. 11 After him was Shammah, the son of Ela the Hararite. And the Philistines came together in Lehi, where there was a bit of land full of seed; and the people went in flight from the Philistines. 12 But he kept his place in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack and overcame the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great salvation. 13 And three of the thirty went down at the start of the grain-cutting, and they came to David at the strong place of Adullam; and the band of Philistines had taken up their position in the valley of Rephaim. 14 And at that time David had taken cover in the strong place, and an armed force of the Philistines was in Beth-lehem. 15 And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town! 16 And the three men, forcing their way through the Philistine army, got water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town, and took it back to David: but he would not take it, but, draining it out, made an offering of it to the Lord. 17 And he said, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this; how may I take as my drink the life-blood of men who have put their lives in danger? So he would not take it. These things did the three great men of war. 18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. He put to death three hundred with his spear, and he got for himself a name among the thirty. 19 Was he not the noblest of the thirty? so he was made their captain: but he was not equal to the first three. 20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a fighting man of Kabzeel, had done great acts; he put to death the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he went down into a hole and put a lion to death in time of snow: 21 And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a tall man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a stick, and pulling the spear out of the hands of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear. 22 These were the acts of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who had a great name among the thirty men of war. 23 He was honoured over the rest of the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three. And David put him over the fighting men who kept him safe. 24 Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the thirty; and Elhanan, the son of Dodai, of Beth-lehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Sibbecai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heldai, the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the valleys of Gaash, 31 Abiel the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, Jashen the Gunite, 33 Jonathan, the son of Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam, the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai the Maacathite, Eliam, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Archite, 36 Igal, the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, who had the care of the arms of Joab, son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in number.
241 Again the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and moving David against them, he said, Go, take the number of Israel and Judah. 2 And the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, and have all the people numbered, so that I may be certain of the number of the people. 3 And Joab said to the king, Whatever the number of the people, may the Lord make it a hundred times as much, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this thing? 4 But the king's order was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the king, to take the number of the children of Israel. 5 And they went over Jordan, and starting from Aroer, from the town which is in the middle of the valley, they went in the direction of the Gadites, and on to Jazer; 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of the Hittites under Hermon; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they came round to Zidon, 7 And to the walled town of Tyre, and to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites: and they went out to the South of Judah at Beer-sheba. 8 So after going through all the land in every direction, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the king the number of all the people: there were in Israel eight hundred thousand fighting men able to take up arms; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.
10 And after the people had been numbered, David's heart was troubled. And David said to the Lord, Great has been my sin in doing this; but now, O Lord, be pleased to take away the sin of your servant, for I have done very foolishly 11 And David got up in the morning; now the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, and I will do it to you. 13 So Gad came to David, and gave him word of this and said to him, Are there to be three years when there is not enough food in your land? or will you go in flight from your haters for three months, while they go after you? or will you have three days of violent disease in your land? take thought and say what answer I am to give to him who sent me. 14 And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let us come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men. 15 So David made selection of the disease; and the time was the days of the grain-cutting, when the disease came among the people, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan as far as Beer-sheba. 16 And when the hand of the angel was stretched out in the direction of Jerusalem, for its destruction, the Lord had regret for the evil, and said to the angel who was sending destruction on the people, It is enough; do no more. And the angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 And when David saw the angel who was causing the destruction of the people, he said to the Lord, Truly, the sin is mine; I have done wrong: but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand be against me and against my family.
18 And that day Gad came to David and said to him, Go up, and put up an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 So David went up, as Gad had said and as the Lord had given orders. 20 And Araunah, looking out, saw the king and his servants coming to him: and Araunah went out, and went down on his face to the earth before the king. 21 And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To give you a price for your grain-floor, so that I may put up an altar to the Lord, and the disease may be stopped among the people. 22 And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take whatever seems right to him, and make an offering of it: see, here are the oxen for the burned offering, and the grain-cleaning instruments and the ox-yokes for wood: 23 All this does the servant of my lord the king give to the king. And Araunah said, May the Lord your God be pleased with your offering! 24 And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will give you a price for it; I will not give to the Lord my God burned offerings for which I have given nothing. So David got the grain-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And there David put up an altar to the Lord, making burned offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord gave ear to his prayer for the land, and the disease came to an end in Israel.
191 And he went into Jericho, and when he was going through it, 2 A man, named Zacchaeus, who was the chief tax-farmer, and a man of wealth, 3 Made an attempt to get a view of Jesus, and was not able to do so, because of the people, for he was a small man. 4 And he went quickly in front of them and got up into a tree to see him, for he was going that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, looking up, he said to him, Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I am coming to your house today. 6 And he came down quickly, and took him into his house with joy. 7 And when they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner. 8 And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much. 9 And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.
11 And while they were giving ear to these words, he made another story for them, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they were of the opinion that the kingdom of God was coming straight away. 12 So he said, A certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for himself, and to come back. 13 And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come. 14 But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler. 15 And when he came back again, having got his kingdom, he gave orders for those servants to whom he had given the money to come to him, so that he might have an account of what business they had done. 16 And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds. 17 And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns. 18 And another came, saying, Your pound has made five pounds. 19 And he said, You will be ruler over five towns. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I put away in a cloth; 21 Because I was in fear of you, for you are a hard man: you take up what you have not put down, and get in grain where you have not put seed. 22 He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed; 23 Why then did you not put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest? 24 And he said to the others who were near, Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten. 25 And they say to him, Lord, he has ten pounds. 26 And I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 And as for those who were against me, who would not have me for their ruler, let them come here, and be put to death before me.
(Read Luke 19:1-10)
Those who sincerely desire a sight of Christ, like Zaccheus, will break through opposition, and take pains to see him. Christ invited himself to Zaccheus' house. Wherever Christ comes he opens the heart, and inclines it to receive him. He that has a mind to know Christ, shall be known of him. Those whom Christ calls, must humble themselves, and come down. We may well receive him joyfully, who brings all good with him. Zaccheus gave proofs publicly that he was become a true convert. He does not look to be justified by his works, as the Pharisee; but by his good works he will, through the grace of God, show the sincerity of his faith and repentance. Zaccheus is declared to be a happy man, now he is turned from sin to God. Now that he is saved from his sins, from the guilt of them, from the power of them, all the benefits of salvation are his. Christ is come to his house, and where Christ comes he brings salvation with him. He came into this lost world to seek and to save it. His design was to save, when there was no salvation in any other. He seeks those that sought him not, and asked not for him.
(Read Luke 19:11-27)
This parable is like that of the talents, 1 Peter 4:10. The account required, resembles that in the parable of the talents; and the punishment of the avowed enemies of Christ, as well as of false professors, is shown. The principal difference is, that the pound given to each seems to point out the gift of the gospel, which is the same to all who hear it; but the talents, distributed more or less, seem to mean that God gives different capacities and advantages to men, by which this one gift of the gospel may be differently improved.
