Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Samuel chapters
20 and 21. Chapter 20 And there happened to be
there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of
Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and
said, We have no share in David, nor do we have
inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to
his tents, O Israel. So every man of Israel deserted
David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri, but
the men of Judah from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem
remained loyal to their king. Now David came
to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took
the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left
to keep the house, and put them in seclusion
and supported them, but did not go into them.
So they were shut up to the day of their death,
living in widowhood. And the king said to Amasa,
Assemble the men of Judah for me within three
days, and be present here yourself. So Amasa
went to assemble the men of Judah, but he delayed
longer than the set time which David had appointed
him. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the
son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom.
Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest
he find for himself fortified cities and escape
us. So Joab's men with the Caritites, the Pellitites,
and all the mighty men went out after him. And
they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the
son of Bichri. When they were at the large stone,
which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now
Joab was dressed in battle armor. On it was a
belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his
hips, and as he was going forward, it fell out.
Then Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my
brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with
his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not
notice the sword that was in Joab's hand, and
he struck him with it in the stomach, and his
entrails poured out on the ground, and he did
not strike him again, thus he died. Then Joab
and Abishah, his brother, pursued Sheba the son
of Bichri. Meanwhile, one of Joab's men stood
near Amasa and said, Whoever favors Joab and
whoever is for David, follow Joab. But Amasa
wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway.
And when the man saw that all the people stood
still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the
field and threw a garment over him, when he saw
that everyone who came upon him halted. When
he was removed from the highway, all the people
went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of
Bichri. And he went through all the tribes of
Israel, to Abel and Bethmaka and all the Berites.
So they were gathered together and also went
after Sheba. Then they came and besieged him
in Abel of Bethmaka. And they cast up a siege
bound against the city, and it stood by the rampart.
And all the people who were with Joab battered
the wall to throw it down. Then a wise woman
cried out from the city, Hear, hear, please say
to Joab, come nearby that I may speak with you.
When he had come near to her, the woman said,
Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said
to him, Hear the words of your maidservant. And
he answered, I am listening. So she spoke saying,
They used to talk in former times, saying, They
shall surely seek guidance at Abel. And so they
would end disputes. I am among the peaceable
and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a
city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow
up the inheritance of the Lord? And Joab answered
and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that
I should swallow up or destroy. That is not so.
But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba
the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand
against the king, against David. Deliver him
only, and I will depart from the city. So the
woman said to Joab, Watch, his head will be thrown
to you over the wall. Then the woman in her wisdom
went to all the people, and they cut off the
head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it
out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they
withdrew from the city every man to his tent.
So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem. And
Joab was over all the army of Israel. Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada, was over the Karatites and
the Pallatites. Adoram was in charge of revenue.
Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder.
Sheva was scribe. Zadok and Abiathar were the
priests. And Ira the Jerite was the chief minister
under David. Chapter 21 Now there was a famine
in the days of David for three years, year after
year. And David inquired of the Lord, and the
Lord answered, It is because of Saul and his
bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.
So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to
them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children
of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites.
The children of Israel had sworn protection to
them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his
zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. Therefore
David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do
for you? And with what shall I make atonement,
that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have
no silver or gold from Saul or from his house,
nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.
So he said, Whatever you say, I will do for you.
Then they answered the king, As for the man who
consumed us and plotted against us, that we should
be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories
of Israel, let seven men of his descendants be
delivered to us, and we will hang them before
the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.
And the king said, I will give them. But the
king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan,
the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that
was between them, between David and Jonathan,
the son of Saul. So the king took Armoni and
Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter
of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five
sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she
brought up for Adriel, the son of Barzillai,
the Meholatite. And he delivered them into the
hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them
on the hill before the Lord. So they fell all
seven together, and were put to death in the
days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning
of barley harvest. Now Rizpah the daughter of
Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself
on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until
the late rains poured on them from heaven. And
she did not allow the birds of the air to rest
on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by
night. And David was told what Rizpah the daughter
of Aiah the concubine of Saul had done. Then
David went and took the bones of Saul and the
bones of Jonathan his son. from the men of Jabesh
-Gilead, who had stolen them from the street
of Beit -Shan, where the Philistines had hung
them up, after the Philistines had struck down
Saul in Gilboa. So he brought up the bones of
Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there,
and they gathered the bones of those who had
been hanged. They buried the bones of Saul and
Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in
Zillah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they
performed all that the king commanded, and after
that God heeded the prayer for the land. When
the Philistines were at war again with Israel,
David and his servants with him went down and
fought against the Philistines, and David grew
faint. Then Ishbi Benob, who was one of the sons
of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear
was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a
new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai
the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and struck
the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of
David swore to him, saying, You shall go out
no more with us to battle, lest you quench the
lamp of Israel. Now it happened afterward that
there was again a battle with the Philistines
at Gob. Then Sibichai the Hushetite killed Saf,
who was one of the sons of the giant. Again there
was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan
the son of Jar -u -Ragim the Bethlehemite killed
the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft
of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Yet
again there was war at Gad, where there was a
man of great stature, who had six fingers on
each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty -four
in number. And he was also born to the giant.
So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of
Shimea, David's brother, killed him. These four
were born to the giant in Gad, and fell by the
hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did. and I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.