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14 Sheba ·went [traveled; passed] through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maacah [C a town in the extreme north of Israel]. All the ·Berites [or Bicrites; C Sheba’s own tribe] also came together and followed him. 15 So Joab and his men came to Abel Beth Maacah and ·surrounded [besieged] it. They ·piled dirt up [built a siege ramp] against the city wall, and they began ·hacking at [battering; undermining] the walls to bring them down.
16 But a wise woman shouted out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here. I want to talk to him!”
17 So Joab came near her. She asked him, “Are you Joab?”
He answered, “Yes, I am.”
Then she said, “Listen to ·what I say [L the words of your maidservant].”
Joab said, “I’m listening.”
18 Then the woman said, “In the past people would say, ‘·Ask for advice [Let them inquire] at Abel,’ and the problem would be solved. 19 I am one of the peaceful, ·loyal [faithful] people of Israel. You are trying to destroy ·an important city of [L a city that is a mother in] Israel. Why must you ·destroy what belongs to [L devour/swallow up the inheritance/heritage of] the Lord?”
20 Joab answered, “I would prefer not to ·destroy [L devour; swallow up] or ruin anything! 21 That is not ·what I want [L the case]. But there is a man here from the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim, who is named Sheba son of Bicri. He has ·turned [L lifted his hand] against King David. If you ·bring him to me [hand him over], I will leave the city alone.”
The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
22 Then the woman spoke very wisely to all the people of the city. They cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and threw it over the wall to Joab. So he blew the ·trumpet [ram’s horn], and the army left the city. Every man returned ·home [L to his tent], and Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
23 Joab was commander of all the army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada led the Kerethites and Pelethites [20:7]. 24 Adoniram was in charge of the ·men who were forced to do hard work [forced/slave labor; or labor force]. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the ·recorder [royal historian]. 25 Sheba was the royal ·secretary [scribe]. Zadok and Abiathar were the priests, 26 and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.
The Gibeonites Punish Saul’s Family
21 During the time David was king, there was a ·shortage of food [famine] that lasted for three years. So David ·prayed to [inquired of; consulted; L sought the face/presence of] the Lord.
The Lord answered, “Saul and his ·family of murderers [L bloody house] are the reason for this shortage, because he ·killed [murdered] the Gibeonites.” 2 (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were ·a group of Amorites who were left alive [L the remnant of the Amorites]. The Israelites had ·promised [sworn; vowed; Josh. 9:14–15] not to hurt the Gibeonites, but Saul had tried to ·kill [annihilate; exterminate] them, because ·he was eager to help [of his zeal for] the people of Israel and Judah.)
King David called the Gibeonites together and spoke to them. 3 He asked, “What can I do for you? How can I make ·up [amends; expiation; atonement] for the harm done so you can bless the Lord’s ·people [L inheritance]?”
4 The Gibeonites said to David, “We cannot ·demand [settle this with] silver or gold from Saul or his ·family [L house]. And ·we don’t have the right [L it’s not for us] to kill anyone in Israel.”
Then David asked, “·What do you want me to do for you [Tell me what to do and I will do it]?”
5 The Gibeonites said, “·Saul [L The man] ·made plans against [destroyed; consumed] us and ·tried to destroy [planned to annihilate/exterminate] all our people ·who are [so we would have no place] left in the land of Israel. 6 So bring seven of his sons to us. Then we will ·kill them and hang them on stakes [impale/execute them] in the presence of the Lord at Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord’s chosen king.”
The king said, “I will give them to you.” 7 But the king ·protected [spared] Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the ·promise [oath] he had made to Jonathan in the Lord’s name [1 Sam. 20:14–17]. 8 The king did take Armoni and Mephibosheth [C not Jonathan’s son, but another person with the same name], sons of Rizpah and Saul [3:7]. (Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah.) And the king took the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab [1 Sam. 14:49; 18:17–19]. (Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite was the father of Merab’s five sons.) 9 David gave these seven sons to the Gibeonites. Then the Gibeonites ·killed them and hung them on stakes on a hill [impaled/executed them] in the presence of the Lord. All seven sons ·died [fell] together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest season at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took ·the rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; C a sign of mourning or distress] and put it on a rock for herself. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on ·her sons’ bodies [L them from the heavens/sky]. During the day she did not let the ·birds of the sky [scavenger birds] touch her sons’ bodies, and during the night she did not let the wild animals touch them.
11 People told David what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s ·slave woman [L concubine; C a secondary wife; 3:7], was doing. 12 Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (The Philistines had hung the bodies of Saul and Jonathan in the public square of Beth Shan after they had killed Saul at Gilboa. Later the men of Jabesh Gilead ·had secretly taken [stole] them from there [1 Sam. 31:8–13].) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Gilead. Then the people gathered the ·bodies of Saul’s seven sons who were hanged on stakes [bones of those who had been impaled/executed]. 14 The people buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. The people did everything the king commanded.
Then God ·answered the prayers for [took pity on] the land.
Wars with the Philistines(A)
15 Again there was war between the Philistines and Israel. David and his ·men [servants] went out to fight the Philistines, ·but [and] David ·became tired [grew weary/exhausted]. 16 Ishbi-Benob, one of the ·sons of Rapha [or descendants of the giants], had a bronze ·spearhead [spear] weighing ·about seven and one-half pounds [L three hundred shekels] and [L was armed with] a new sword. He ·planned [was about] to kill David, 17 but Abishai son of Zeruiah ·killed the Philistine and saved David’s life [L came to help him and struck down the Philistine].
Then David’s men ·made a promise [swore; vowed] to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle. ·If you were killed, Israel would lose its greatest leader [L …so that you do not extinguish the lamp/light of Israel].”
18 Later, at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another ·one of the sons of Rapha [or descendant of the giants].
19 Later, there was another battle at Gob with the Philistines. Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath [C see 1 Chr. 20:5 where he is called Lahmi, the brother of Goliath]. His spear was as large as a weaver’s ·rod [beam].
20 At Gath another battle took place. A huge man was there; he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four fingers and toes in all. This man also was ·one of the sons of Rapha [or descended from the giants]. 21 When he ·challenged [defied; taunted] Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.
22 These four ·sons of Rapha [or descendants of giants] from Gath were killed by David and his ·men [L servants].
Luke’s Second Volume
1 ·To [L O] Theophilus [C a name meaning “Lover of God”; probably a specific individual, though possibly addressing all who love God].
The ·first [or former; previous] ·book [account; C a reference to the Gospel of Luke] I wrote was about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before this, ·with the help of [through] the Holy Spirit, Jesus ·told [instructed; commanded] the apostles he had chosen [Luke 6:13] what they should do. 3 After his ·death [L suffering], he showed himself to them and ·proved [provided undeniable evidence] in many ways that he was alive [Luke 24:13–49]. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was ·eating [or staying; meeting] with them, he ·told [commanded] them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father [C the gift of the Holy Spirit] which I told you about [Luke 24:49]. 5 John baptized people ·with [or in] water [Luke 3:1–20], but in a few days you will be baptized ·with [by; or in] the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus Is Taken Up into Heaven
6 When the apostles were all together, they ·asked [kept asking] Jesus, “Lord, are you ·now [at this time] going to ·give the kingdom back [restore the kingdom] to Israel [C Israel had lived for centuries under the oppression of foreign nations; Jer. 16:15; 23:8; Hos. 11:8–11; the disciples were expecting the messianic kingdom; Is. 9:1–7; 11:1–16]?”
7 Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only One who has the ·authority [or power] to ·decide [set] dates and times [Mark 13:32]. These things are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem [2:1—8:3], in all of Judea, in Samaria [8:4—11:18], and ·in every part of the world [to the ends of the earth; 11:19—28:31; Luke 24:45–48].”
9 After he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud ·hid him from [or took him out of; C a reference to the cloud chariot; Dan. 7:13–14] their sight [C a description of Christ’s ascension into heaven]. 10 As he was going, they were ·looking [staring; gazing] into the ·sky [heavens]. Suddenly, two men wearing white clothes [C angels] stood beside them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here ·looking into [staring at] ·the sky [heaven]? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go [C on a cloud; Luke 21:27].”
A New Apostle Is Chosen
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount ·of Olives [or called Olivet]. (This mountain is about ·half a mile [L a Sabbath day’s journey] from Jerusalem.) 13 When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot [C either a political revolutionary or one zealous for the Law of Moses; Luke 6:15]), and Judas son of James were there. 14 They all ·continued [or were constantly] praying together with some women [C followers of Jesus (Luke 8:3; 24:22) and perhaps wives of the apostles], including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers.
15 ·During this time [L In those days] there was a meeting of the ·believers [L brothers (and sisters)] (about one hundred twenty of them). Peter stood up and said,
‘May his ·place [dwelling; home] be ·empty [deserted];
leave no one to live in it [Ps. 69:25].’
And it is also written:
‘Let another man ·replace him as leader [take his office/position of leadership; Ps. 109:8].’
23 They put the names of two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. The other was Matthias.
The Lord Guards His People
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
121 I ·look up [L raise my eyes] to the hills [C the hills surrounding Zion, the location of the Temple],
but where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].
3 He will not let ·you be defeated [L your feet be moved/slip].
He who ·guards [watches] you never sleeps.
4 He who ·guards [watches] Israel
never ·rests [sleeps] or ·sleeps [slumbers].
5 The Lord ·guards [watches] you.
The Lord is the shade ·that protects you from the sun [L at your hand, your right hand; 91:1].
6 The sun cannot ·hurt [L strike] you during the day,
and the moon cannot ·hurt [L strike] you at night.
7 The Lord will ·protect [guard; watch] you from all ·dangers [trouble; evil];
he will ·guard [watch] your life.
8 The Lord will ·guard [watch] you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
18 Pride ·leads to destruction [comes before a disaster];
·a proud attitude brings ruin [T pride comes before a fall].
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