Through the Bible – Day 109

₁Some time later, King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. ₂David said, “Nahash was kind to me, and I will be kind to his son.” So he sent some officials to the country of Ammon to tell Hanun how sorry he was that his father had died.

₃But Hanun's officials told him, “Do you really believe David is honouring your father by sending these people to comfort you? He probably sent them to spy on our city, so he can destroy it.” ₄Hanun arrested David's officials and had their beards shaved off on one side of their faces. He had their robes cut off just below the waist, and then he sent them away. ₅They were terribly ashamed.

When David found out what had happened to his officials, he sent a message and told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then you can come home.”

₆The Ammonites realized that they had made David very angry, so they hired more foreign soldiers. Twenty thousand of them were foot soldiers from the Aramean cities of Beth-Rehob and Zobah, one thousand were from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand were from the region of Tob. ₇David heard what they had done, and he sent out Joab with all his well-trained soldiers.

₈The Ammonite troops came out and got ready to fight in front of the gate to their city. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the soldiers from Tob and Maacah formed a separate group in the nearby fields.

₉Joab saw that he had to fight in front and behind at the same time, and he picked some of the best Israelite soldiers to fight the Arameans. ₁₀He put his brother Abishai in command of the rest of the army and made them fight the Ammonites. ₁₁Joab told his brother, “If the Arameans are too much for me to handle, you can come and help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I'll come and help you. ₁₂Be brave and fight hard to protect our people and the cities of our God. I pray that the LORD will do whatever pleases him.”

₁₃Joab and his soldiers attacked the Arameans, and the Arameans ran from them. ₁₄When the Ammonite soldiers saw that the Arameans had run away, they ran from Abishai's soldiers and went back into their own city. Joab stopped fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.

₁₅The Arameans realized they had lost the battle, so they brought all their troops together again. ₁₆Hadadezer sent messengers to call in the Arameans who were on the other side of the River Euphrates. Then Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer's army, led them to the town of Helam.

₁₇David found out what the Arameans were doing, and he brought Israel's whole army together. They crossed the River Jordan and went to Helam, where the Arameans were ready to meet them. ₁₈The Arameans attacked, but then they ran from Israel. David killed seven hundred chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry. He also killed Shobach, their commander.

₁₉When the kings who had been under Hadadezer's rule saw that Israel had beaten them, they made peace with Israel and accepted David as their ruler. The Arameans were afraid to help Ammon any more.

₁It was now spring, the time when kings go to war. David sent out the whole Israelite army under the command of Joab and his officers. They destroyed the Ammonite army and surrounded the capital city of Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.

_2-4Late one afternoon, David got up from a nap and was walking around on the flat roof of his palace. A beautiful young woman was down below in her courtyard, bathing as her religion required. David happened to see her, and he sent one of his servants to find out who she was.

The servant came back and told David, “Her name is Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

David sent some messengers to bring her to his palace. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she returned home. ₅But later, when she found out that she was going to have a baby, she sent someone to David with this message: “I'm pregnant!”

₆David sent a message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.”

Joab sent Uriah ₇to David's palace, and David asked him, “Is Joab well? How is the army doing? And how about the war?” ₈Then David told Uriah, “Go home and clean up.” Uriah left the king's palace, and David had dinner sent to Uriah's house. ₉But Uriah didn't go home. Instead, he slept outside the entrance to the royal palace, where the king's guards slept.

₁₀Someone told David that Uriah had not gone home. So the next morning David asked him, “Why didn't you go home? Haven't you been away for a long time?”

₁₁Uriah answered, “The sacred chest and the armies of Israel and Judah are camping out somewhere in the fields with our commander Joab and his officers and troops. Do you really think I would go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? I swear by your life that I would not!”

₁₂Then David said, “Stay here in Jerusalem today, and I will send you back tomorrow.”

Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. Then the next day, ₁₃David invited him for dinner. Uriah ate with David and drank so much that he got drunk, but he still did not go home. He went out and slept on his mat near the palace guards. ₁₄Early the next morning, David wrote a letter and told Uriah to deliver it to Joab. ₁₅The letter said: “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is the worst. Then pull the troops back from him, so that he will be wounded and die.”

₁₆Joab had been carefully watching the city of Rabbah, and he put Uriah in a place where he knew there were some of the enemy's best soldiers. ₁₇When the men of the city came out, they fought and killed some of David's soldiers—Uriah the Hittite was one of them.

₁₈Joab sent a messenger to tell David everything that was happening in the war. ₁₉He gave the messenger these orders:

₂₂The messenger went to David and reported everything Joab had told him. ₂₃He added, “The enemy chased us from the wall and out into the open fields. But we pushed them back as far as the city gate. ₂₄Then they shot arrows at us from the top of the wall. Some of your soldiers were killed, and one of them was Uriah the Hittite.”

₂₅David replied, “Tell Joab to cheer up and not to be upset about what happened. You never know who will be killed in a war. Tell him to strengthen his attack against the city and break through its walls.”

₂₆When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ₂₇Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David's wife, and they had a son.

The LORD was angry at what David had done,

₅David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this deserves to die! ₆And because he didn't have any pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”

₇Then Nathan told David:

_13-14David said, “I have disobeyed the LORD.”

“Yes, you have!” Nathan answered. “You showed you didn't care what the LORD wanted. He has forgiven you, and you won't die. But your newborn son will.” ₁₅Then Nathan went back home.

The LORD made David's young son very sick.

₁₀One Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in a Jewish meeting place, ₁₁and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was completely bent over and could not straighten up. ₁₂When Jesus saw the woman, he called her over and said, “You are now well.” ₁₃He placed his hands on her, and at once she stood up straight and praised God.

₁₄The man in charge of the meeting place was angry because Jesus had healed someone on the Sabbath. So he said to the people, “Each week has six days when we can work. Come and be healed on one of those days, but not on the Sabbath.”

₁₅The Lord replied, “Are you trying to fool someone? Won't any one of you untie your ox or donkey and lead it out to drink on a Sabbath? ₁₆This woman belongs to the family of Abraham, but Satan has kept her bound for eighteen years. Isn't it right to set her free on the Sabbath?” ₁₇Jesus' words made his enemies ashamed. But everyone else in the crowd was happy about the wonderful things he was doing.

₁₈Jesus said, “What is God's kingdom like? What can I compare it with? ₁₉It is like what happens when someone plants a mustard seed in a garden. The seed grows as big as a tree, and birds nest in its branches.”

₂₀Then Jesus said, “What can I compare God's kingdom with? ₂₁It is like what happens when a woman mixes yeast into three batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.”

₂₂As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he taught the people in the towns and villages. ₂₃Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

Jesus answered:

₃₁At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “You had better get away from here! Herod wants to kill you.”

₃₂Jesus said to them: