The Daily Audio Bible

11 Then the leaders of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, “We are your relatives,^{[a] 2} and even when Saul was king, you were the one who led our armies to battle and brought them safely back again. And the Lord your God has told you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel. You shall be their king.’”

³ So David made a contract with them before the Lord, and they anointed him as king of Israel, just as the Lord had told Samuel. ⁴ Then David and the leaders went to Jerusalem (or Jebus, as it used to be called) where the Jebusites—the original inhabitants of the land—lived. ^5-6 But the people of Jebus refused to let them enter the city. So David captured the fortress of Zion, later called the City of David, and said to his men, “The first man to kill a Jebusite shall be made commander-in-chief!” Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was the first, so he became the general of David’s army. ⁷ David lived in the fortress and that is why that area of Jerusalem is called the City of David. ⁸ He extended the city out around the fortress while Joab rebuilt the rest of Jerusalem. ⁹ And David became more and more famous and powerful, for the Lord of the heavens was with him.

¹⁰ These are the names of some of the bravest of David’s warriors (who also encouraged the leaders of Israel to make David their king, as the Lord had said would happen):

¹¹ Jashobeam (the son of a man from Hachmon) was the leader of The Top Three—the three greatest heroes among David’s men. He once killed 300 men with his spear.

¹² The second of The Top Three was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, a member of the subclan of Ahoh. ¹³ He was with David in the battle against the Philistines at Pasdammim. The Israeli army was in a barley field and had begun to run away, ¹⁴ but he held his ground in the middle of the field, and recovered it and slaughtered the Philistines; and the Lord saved them with a great victory.

¹⁵ Another time, three of The Thirty^[b] went to David while he was hiding in the cave of Adullam. The Philistines were camped in the valley of Rephaim, ¹⁶ and David was in the stronghold at the time; an outpost of the Philistines had occupied Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David wanted a drink from the Bethlehem well beside the gate, and when he mentioned this to his men, ^18-19 these three broke through to the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it! Instead he poured it out as an offering to the Lord and said, “God forbid that I should drink it! It is the very blood of these men who risked their lives to get it.”

²⁰ Abishai, Joab’s brother, was commander of The Thirty. He had gained his place among The Thirty by killing 300 men at one time with his spear. ²¹ He was the chief and the most famous of The Thirty, but he was not as great as The Three.

²² Benaiah, whose father was a mighty warrior from Kabzeel, killed the two famous giants^[c] from Moab. He also killed a lion in a slippery pit when there was snow on the ground. ²³ Once he killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall, whose spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam. But Benaiah went up to him with only a club in his hand, and pulled the spear away from him and used it to kill him. ^24-25 He was nearly as great as The Three, and he was very famous among The Thirty. David made him captain of his bodyguard.

^26-47 Other famous warriors among David’s men were:

12 These are the names of the famous warriors who joined David at Ziklag while he was hiding from King Saul.^{[e] 2} All of them were expert archers and slingers, and they could use their left hands as readily as their right! Like King Saul, they were all of the tribe of Benjamin.

^3-7 Their chief was Ahiezer, son of Shemaah from Gibeah. The others were:

^8-13 Great and brave warriors from the tribe of Gad also went to David in the wilderness. They were experts with both shield and spear and were “lion-faced men, swift as deer upon the mountains.”

¹⁴ These men were army officers; the weakest was worth a hundred normal troops, and the greatest was worth a thousand! ¹⁵ They crossed the Jordan River during its seasonal flooding and conquered the lowlands on both the east and west banks.

¹⁶ Others came to David from Benjamin and Judah. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said, “If you have come to help me, we are friends; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when I am innocent, then may the God of our fathers see and judge you.”

¹⁸ Then the Holy Spirit came upon them, and Amasai, a leader of The Thirty, replied,

So David let them join him, and he made them captains of his army.

28 ^1-2 We soon learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us, building a bonfire on the beach to welcome and warm us in the rain and cold.

³ As Paul gathered an armful of sticks to lay on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself onto his hand! ⁴ The people of the island saw it hanging there and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live!”

⁵ But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. ⁶ The people waited for him to begin swelling or suddenly fall dead; but when they had waited a long time and no harm came to him, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷ Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the governor of the island. He welcomed us courteously and fed us for three days. ⁸ As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, healed him! ⁹ Then all the other sick people in the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ As a result we were showered with gifts,^[a] and when the time came to sail, people put on board all sorts of things we would need for the trip.

¹¹ It was three months after the shipwreck before we set sail again, and this time it was in The Twin Brothers of Alexandria, a ship that had wintered at the island. ¹² Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days. ¹³ From there we circled around to Rhegium; a day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we arrived at Puteoli, ¹⁴ where we found some believers! They begged us to stay with them seven days. Then we went on to Rome.

¹⁵ The brothers in Rome had heard we were coming and came to meet us at the Forum^[b] on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to live wherever he wanted to, though guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷ Three days after his arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders and spoke to them as follows:

“Brothers, I was arrested by the Jews in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government for prosecution, even though I had harmed no one nor violated the customs of our ancestors. ¹⁸ The Romans gave me a trial and wanted to release me, for they found no cause for the death sentence demanded by the Jewish leaders. ¹⁹ But when the Jews protested the decision, I felt it necessary, with no malice against them, to appeal to Caesar. ²⁰ I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and I could tell you that it is because I believe the Messiah^[c] has come that I am bound with this chain.”

²¹ They replied, “We have heard nothing against you! We have had no letters from Judea or reports from those arriving from Jerusalem.^{[d] 22} But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about these Christians is that they are denounced everywhere!”

²³ So a time was set, and on that day large numbers came to his house. He told them about the Kingdom of God and taught them about Jesus from the Scriptures—from the five books of Moses and the books of prophecy. He began lecturing in the morning and went on into the evening!

²⁴ Some believed and some didn’t. ²⁵ But after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul ringing in their ears: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶ ‘Say to the Jews, “You will hear and see but not understand, ²⁷ for your hearts are too fat and your ears don’t listen and you have closed your eyes against understanding, for you don’t want to see and hear and understand and turn to me to heal you.”’^[e]

9 O Lord, I will praise you with all my heart and tell everyone about the marvelous things you do. ² I will be glad, yes, filled with joy because of you. I will sing your praises, O Lord God above all gods.^[a]

³ My enemies will fall back and perish in your presence; ⁴ you have vindicated me; you have endorsed my work, declaring from your throne that it is good.^{[b] 5} You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked, blotting out their names forever and ever. ⁶ O enemies of mine, you are doomed forever. The Lord will destroy your cities; even the memory of them will disappear.

^7-8 But the Lord lives on forever; he sits upon his throne to judge justly the nations of the world. ⁹ All who are oppressed may come to him. He is a refuge for them in their times of trouble. ¹⁰ All those who know your mercy, Lord, will count on you for help. For you have never yet forsaken those who trust in you.

¹¹ Oh, sing out your praises to the God who lives in Jerusalem.^[c] Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds. ¹² He who avenges murder has an open ear to those who cry to him for justice. He does not ignore the prayers of men in trouble when they call to him for help.

19 Better to be poor and honest than rich^[a] and dishonest.

² It is dangerous and sinful to rush into the unknown.

³ A man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness and then blame it on the Lord!