The Daily Audio Bible

David’s Song of Praise

22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord saved him from all who hated him, and from Saul. ² He said, “The Lord is my rock, my strong place, and the One Who sets me free. ³ He is my God, my rock, where I go to be safe. He is my covering and the horn that saves me, my strong place where I go to be safe. You save me from being hurt. ⁴ I call upon the Lord, Who should be praised. I am saved from those who hate me.

⁵ “For the waves of death were all around me. The storm that destroys made me afraid. ⁶ The cords of the grave were around me. The nets of death came against me. ⁷ In my trouble I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God. From His house He heard my voice. My cry for help came into His ears.

⁸ “Then the earth shook. The mountains were shaking. They shook because He was angry. ⁹ Smoke went up from His nose. Fire that destroyed came from His mouth. Burnt pieces of wood were set on fire by it. ¹⁰ He tore open the heavens and came down, with darkness under His feet. ¹¹ He sat on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind. ¹² He made darkness around Him his tent, gathering waters, and clouds of the sky. ¹³ From the light before Him, burnt pieces of wood were set on fire. ¹⁴ “The Lord thundered from heaven. The Most High let His voice be heard. ¹⁵ He sent out arrows, and made them run. He sent lightning, and made them troubled and afraid. ¹⁶ Then the bottom of the sea was seen. The bottom of the world lost its covering, at the strong words of the Lord, at the rush of breath from His nose.

¹⁷ “He sent from above. He took me. He pulled me out of many waters. ¹⁸ He saved me from those strong ones who hated me. For they were too strong for me. ¹⁹ They came upon me in the day of my trouble. But the Lord held me up. ²⁰ He brought me into a big place. He saved me, because He was pleased with me. ²¹ “The Lord has paid me for being right with Him. He has paid me for my clean hands. ²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord. I have not acted in sin against my God. ²³ For all His Laws were in front of me, and I did not turn aside from them. ²⁴ I was without blame before Him. I kept myself from guilt. ²⁵ So the Lord has paid me for being right with Him, for being clean in His eyes.

²⁶ “With the faithful You show Yourself faithful. With the one without blame You show Yourself without blame. ²⁷ With the pure You show Yourself pure. But with the sinful, You show Yourself wise. ²⁸ You save a troubled people. But Your eyes are on the proud whom You put to shame.

²⁹ “For You are my lamp, O Lord. The Lord gives light to my darkness. ³⁰ For by You I can run through an army. By my God I can jump over a wall. ³¹ As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is proven true. He is a covering to all who go to Him to be safe.

³² “For who is God, but the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God? ³³ God is my strong place. He has made my way safe. ³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He sets me safe on high places. ³⁵ He makes my hands ready for battle, so that my arms can use a bow of brass.

³⁶ “You have given me the covering of Your saving power. Your help makes me strong. ³⁷ You give me a big place for my steps. I have not fallen. ³⁸ I went after those who hated me and destroyed them. I did not return until they were destroyed. ³⁹ I destroyed them and cut them through, so that they did not rise. They fell under my feet. ⁴⁰ For You have dressed me with strength for battle. You have put under me those who came against me. ⁴¹ You made those who fought me turn their backs to me. I destroyed those who hated me. ⁴² They looked, but there was no one to save them. They cried to the Lord, but He did not answer them. ⁴³ Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I crushed and stepped on them like the mud of the streets.

⁴⁴ “You have saved me from trouble with my people. You have kept me as head of the nations. People whom I have not known serve me. ⁴⁵ Strangers obey me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. ⁴⁶ Strangers lost their strength of heart. They came out of their secret places shaking with fear.

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives. Thanks be to my Rock. May God be honored, the Rock that saves me. ⁴⁸ He is the God Who punishes for me. He puts people under my rule. ⁴⁹ He makes me free from those who hate me. You lift me above those who come against me. You save me from the man who wants to hurt me. ⁵⁰ So I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord. I will sing praises to Your name. ⁵¹ With great power He saves His king. He shows loving-kindness to His chosen one, to David and his children forever.”

David’s Last Words

23 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse, the man who was raised on high, the chosen one of the God of Jacob, the sweet song writer of Israel, says, ² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. His Word was on my tongue. ³ The God of Israel has spoken. The Rock of Israel said to me, ‘When one is right and good in ruling over men, ruling in the fear of God, ⁴ he shines on them like the morning light. He is like the sunshine on a morning without clouds. He is like rain that makes the new grass grow out of the earth through sunshine after rain.’ ⁵ In truth, does not my house stand right with God? For He has made an agreement with me that lasts forever. It is planned right in all things, and sure. For will He not make all my help and my desire grow? ⁶ But those of no worth are all like thorns that are thrown away, because they cannot be taken with the hand. ⁷ The man who touches them must be covered with iron and have a spear. All of them will be burned up with fire as they sit.”

David’s Men of War

⁸ These are the names of David’s men of war. There was Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, head of the three. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed 800 men at one time.

⁹ Next to him among the three strong men was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was with David when they spoke against the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had left. ¹⁰ Eleazar got up and killed the Philistines until his hand was tired from holding the sword. The Lord saved many of His people that day. The men returned after him only to take what had belonged to the dead.

¹¹ Next to him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. The Philistines were gathered together at Lehi, where there was a piece of ground full of lentil plants. The people ran from the Philistines. ¹² But Shammah stood in the center of the piece of ground and fought for it. He killed the Philistines. The Lord saved many of His people that day.

¹³ Then three of the thirty leaders went down to David during the gathering time to the cave of Adullam. The Philistine army was staying in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was in the strong place, while the Philistine soldiers were in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David had a desire and said, “If only someone would give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶ So the three strong men broke through the Philistine army and took water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁷ and said, “O Lord, far be it from me to do this. Should I drink the blood of the men who went and put their lives in danger?” So he would not drink it. The three strong men did these things.

¹⁸ Now Abishai the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was head of the thirty. He fought with his spear against 300 men and killed them. His name was respected as well as the three. ¹⁹ He was the most honored of the thirty. So he became their captain. But he was not as strong as the three.

²⁰ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a man of Kabzeel with strength of heart. He had done powerful things. He killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. And he went down and killed a lion in a hole while the snow was falling. ²¹ He killed an Egyptian, an important man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand. But Benaiah went down to him with a heavy stick and took the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. Then he killed him with his own spear. ²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things. His name was respected as well as the three strong men. ²³ He was honored among the thirty. But he was not as strong as the three. David made him captain of the soldiers who kept him from danger.

The Holy Spirit Comes On the Followers of Jesus

2 The followers of Jesus were all together in one place fifty days after the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. ² All at once there was a sound from heaven like a powerful wind. It filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then they saw tongues which were divided that looked like fire. These came down on each one of them. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they began to speak in other languages which the Holy Spirit made them able to speak.

⁵ There were many religious Jews staying in Jerusalem. They were from every country of the world. ⁶ When they heard this strange sound, they gathered together. They all listened! It was hard for them to believe they were hearing words in their own language. ⁷ They were surprised and wondered about it. They said to each other, “Are not these Galileans who are speaking? ⁸ How is it that each one of us can hear his own language? ⁹ We are Parthians and Medes, Elamites and from the countries of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and in the countries of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Some have come from the city of Rome. Some are Jews by birth and others have become Jews. ¹¹ Some are also men of the countries of Crete and Arabia. They are speaking of the powerful works of God to all of us in our own language!” ¹² They were all surprised and wondered about this. They said to each other, “What can this mean?” ¹³ But others laughed and made fun, saying, “These men are full of new wine.”

Peter Preaches—What Joel Said Would Happen Has Happened

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the eleven missionaries and spoke with a loud voice, “Men of the country of Judea and all of you who are living in Jerusalem, I want you to know what is happening. So listen to what I am going to say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you think. It is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ The early preacher Joel said this would happen. ¹⁷ God says, ‘In the last days I will send My Spirit on all men. Then your sons and daughters will speak God’s Word. Your young men will see what God has given them to see. Your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ Yes, on those I own, both men and women, I will send My Spirit in those days. They will speak God’s Word. ¹⁹ I will show powerful works in the sky above. There will be things to see in the earth below like blood and fire and clouds of smoke. ²⁰ The sun will turn dark and the moon will turn to blood before the day of the Lord. His coming will be a great and special day. ²¹ It will be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin.’ ^(A)

Peter Preaches—Jesus Shows Who He Is by What He Did

²² “Jewish men, listen to what I have to say! You knew Jesus of the town of Nazareth by the powerful works He did. God worked through Jesus while He was with you. You all know this. ²³ Jesus was handed over to sinful men. God knew this and planned for it to happen. You had sinful men take Him and nail Him to a cross. ²⁴ But God raised Him up. He allowed Him to be set free from the pain of death. Death could not hold its power over Him.

Peter Preaches—Jesus Shows Who He Is by What He Said

²⁵ “David said this about Him, ‘I can see the Lord before me all the time. He is at my right side so that I do not need to be troubled. ²⁶ I am glad and my tongue is full of joy. My body rests in hope. ²⁷ You will not leave my soul in death. You will not allow Your Holy One to be destroyed. ²⁸ You have shown me the ways of life. I will be full of joy when I see Your face.’ ^(B)

²⁹ “Brothers, I can tell you in plain words that our early father David not only died but was buried. We know where his grave is today. ³⁰ He was one who spoke for God. He knew God had made a promise to him. From his family Christ would come and take His place as King. ³¹ He knew this before and spoke of Christ being raised from the dead. Christ’s soul would not be left in hell. His body would not be destroyed. ³² Jesus is this One! God has raised Him up and we have all seen Him.

³³ “This Jesus has been lifted up to God’s right side. The Holy Spirit was promised by the Father. God has given Him to us. That is what you are seeing and hearing now! ³⁴ It was not David who was taken up to heaven, because he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right side, ³⁵ for those who hate You will be a place to rest Your feet.”’ ^{(C) 36} The whole Jewish nation must know for sure that God has made this Jesus, both Lord and Christ. He is the One you nailed to a cross!”

They Ask Peter What They Should Do

³⁷ When the Jews heard this, their hearts were troubled. They said to Peter and to the other missionaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “Be sorry for your sins and turn from them and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is to you and your children. It is to all people everywhere. It is to as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ He said many other things. He helped them understand that they should keep themselves from the sinful people of this day. ⁴¹ Those who believed what he said were baptized. There were about 3,000 more followers added that day.

The First Church

⁴² They were faithful in listening to the teaching of the missionaries. They worshiped and prayed and ate the Lord’s supper together. ⁴³ Many powerful works were done by the missionaries. Surprise and fear came on them all. ⁴⁴ All those who put their trust in Christ were together and shared what they owned. ⁴⁵ As anyone had need, they sold what they owned and shared with everyone. ⁴⁶ Day after day they went to the house of God together. In their houses they ate their food together. Their hearts were happy. ⁴⁷ They gave thanks to God and all the people respected them. The Lord added to the group each day those who were being saved from the punishment of sin.

A Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” ² Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. ⁴ That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord. There they give thanks to the name of the Lord, by the Law that was given to Israel. ⁵ For thrones were set there for telling who is guilty or not, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all go well for those who love you. ⁷ May there be peace within your walls. May all go well within your houses. ⁸ I will now say, “May peace be within you,” for the good of my brothers and my friends. ⁹ Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will pray for your good.

¹⁹ It is better to be poor in spirit among poor people, than to divide the riches that were taken with the proud.

²⁰ He who listens to the Word will find good, and happy is he who trusts in the Lord.