The Rebellion of Sheba

1 Now there happened to be there ^da worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,

2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took ^gthe ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.

4 Then the king said to ^hAmasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take ⁱyour lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.”¹ 7 And there went out after him Joab’s men and the ^jCherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. 9 And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand ^kto kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. ^lSo Joab struck him with it ^min the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to ⁿAbel of ⁿBeth-maacah,² and all ^othe Bichrites³ assembled and followed him in. 15 And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in ⁿAbel of Beth-maacah. ^pThey cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’” 17 And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at ⁿAbel,’ and so they settled a matter. 19 I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you ^qswallow up ^rthe heritage of the Lord?” 20 Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should ^qswallow up or destroy! 21 That is not true. But a man of ^sthe hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman went to all the people ^tin her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, ^uevery man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

23 ^vNow Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and ^wAdoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was secretary; and ^xZadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and ^yIra the Jairite was also David’s priest.

David Avenges the Gibeonites

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David ^zsought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but ^aof the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^bthe heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^cGibeah of Saul, ^dthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of ^ethe oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 The king took the two sons of ^fRizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab⁴ the daughter of Saul, whom ^gshe bore to ^hAdriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, ⁱat the beginning of barley harvest.

10 ^jThen Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, ^kwho had stolen them from the public square of ^lBeth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in ^mZela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that ⁿGod responded to the plea for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16 And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants ^oof the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels⁵ of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, ^p“You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench ^qthe lamp of Israel.”

18 ^rAfter this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^sSibbecai ^tthe Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants ^uof the giants. 19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and ^vElhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, ^wthe shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.⁶ 20 And there was again war at Gath, 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 also was descended ^xfrom the giants. 21 And when ^yhe taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were descended ^xfrom the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of ^mAscents.

The Man of Lawlessness

1 Now concerning ^athe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^bbeing gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,¹ 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^calarmed, either ^dby a spirit or a ^espoken word, or ^ea letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^fthe day of the Lord has come. 3 ^gLet no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^hunless the rebellion comes first, and ⁱthe man of lawlessness² is revealed, ^jthe son of destruction,³ 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^kproclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For ^lthe mystery of lawlessness ^mis already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then ⁿthe lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^owill kill with ^pthe breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^qthe appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^rwith all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for ^sthose who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore ^tGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^uwhat is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned ^vwho did not believe the truth but ^whad pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

13 But ^xwe ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^ybrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^zas the firstfruits^{4 a}to be saved, ^bthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through ^cour gospel, ^aso that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ^dstand firm and hold to ^ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either ^fby our spoken word or by ^four letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^gwho loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^hhope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and ⁱestablish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

1 Finally, brothers,^{5 j}pray for us, that ^kthe word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,⁶ as happened among you, 2 and ^lthat we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^mnot all have faith. 3 But ⁿthe Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^oguard you against ^pthe evil one.⁷ 4 And ^qwe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord ^rdirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6 Now we command you, brothers, ^sin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^tthat you keep away from any ^ubrother ^vwho is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know ^whow you ought to imitate us, because ^xwe were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but ^ywith toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was ^znot because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^aan example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^bIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you ^cwalk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^dbusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.⁸

13 As for you, brothers, ^edo not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^fhave nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 ^gDo not regard him as an enemy, but ^hwarn him as a brother.

Benediction

16 Now may ⁱthe Lord of peace himself ^jgive you peace at all times in every way. ^kThe Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write ^lthis greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 ^mThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.