Daily Text and Bible Reading: Tuesday, April 15 [Press play below]

23.1 These are the last words of David: “The word of David the son of Jesse, And the word of the man who was raised on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, The pleasant singer of the songs of Israel.
23.2 The spirit of Jehovah spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
23.3 The God of Israel spoke; To me the Rock of Israel said: ‘When the one ruling over mankind is righteous, Ruling in the fear of God,
23.4 It is like the morning light when the sun shines, A morning without clouds. It is like the brightness after the rain, Making grass sprout from the earth.’
23.5 Is not my house like that before God? For he has made an eternal covenant with me, Arranged in every detail and secured. Because it means my complete salvation and all my delight, Is that not why he makes it flourish?
23.6 But worthless men are all thrown away like thornbushes, For they cannot be taken with the hand.
23.7 When a man touches them, He should be fully armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they should be completely burned up with fire in their place.”
23.8 These are the names of David’s mighty warriors: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, the head of the three. He brandished his spear over 800 slain at one time.
23.9 Next to him, Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi was among the three mighty warriors with David when they taunted the Philistines. They had gathered there for the battle, and when the men of Israel retreated,
23.10 he stood his ground and kept striking down the Philistines until his arm grew weary and his hand became stiff from gripping the sword. So Jehovah brought about a great victory on that day; and the people returned behind him to strip the slain.
23.11 Next to him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of land full of lentils; and the people fled because of the Philistines.
23.12 But he took his stand in the middle of the field and defended it and kept striking down the Philistines, so that Jehovah brought about a great victory.
23.13 Three of the 30 headmen went down during the harvest to David at the cave of Adullam, and a company of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.
23.14 David was then in the stronghold, and an outpost of the Philistines was in Bethlehem.
23.15 Then David expressed his longing: “If only I could have a drink of the water from the cistern by the gate of Bethlehem!”
23.16 At that the three mighty warriors forced their way into the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the cistern by the gate of Bethlehem and brought it to David; but he refused to drink it and poured it out to Jehovah.
23.17 He said: “It is unthinkable on my part, O Jehovah, that I should do this! Should I drink the blood of the men going at the risk of their lives?” So he refused to drink it. These are the things that his three mighty warriors did.
23.18 Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was the head of another three; he brandished his spear over 300 slain, and he had a reputation like the three.
23.19 Although he was the most distinguished of the other three and he was their chief, he did not attain to the rank of the first three.
23.20 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a courageous man who performed many exploits in Kabzeel. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he descended into a waterpit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
23.21 He also struck down an Egyptian man of extraordinary size. Though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, he went against him with a rod and snatched the spear away from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.
23.22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and he had a reputation like that of the three mighty warriors.
23.23 Although he was distinguished even more than the thirty, he did not attain to the rank of the three. However, David appointed him over his own bodyguard.
23.24 Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty: Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
23.25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
23.26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
23.27 Abi-ezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
23.28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
23.29 Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites,
23.30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the wadis of Gaash,
23.31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Bar-humite,
23.32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
23.33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
23.34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
23.35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
23.36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
23.37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
23.38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
23.39 and Uriah the Hittite—37 in all.


24.1 The anger of Jehovah again blazed against Israel when one incited David against them, saying: “Go, take a count of Israel and Judah.”
24.2 So the king said to Joab the chief of the army who was with him: “Please go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and register the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”
24.3 But Joab said to the king: “May Jehovah your God multiply the people 100 times, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it, but why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
24.4 But the king’s word prevailed over Joab and the chiefs of the army. So Joab and the chiefs of the army went out from before the king to register the people of Israel.
24.5 They crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, to the right of the city in the middle of the valley, and they went toward the Gadites and on to Jazer.
24.6 After that they went on to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi and continued to Dan-jaan and went around to Sidon.
24.7 Then they went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites, and finally they ended up in the Negeb of Judah at Beer-sheba.
24.8 Thus they went through all the land and came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days.
24.9 Joab now gave to the king the number of the people who were registered. Israel amounted to 800,000 warriors armed with swords, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
24.10 But David’s heart was struck with remorse after he had numbered the people. David then said to Jehovah: “I have sinned greatly by doing this. And now, Jehovah, please forgive your servant’s error, for I have acted very foolishly.”
24.11 When David got up in the morning, Jehovah’s word came to Gad the prophet, David’s visionary, saying:
24.12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “I am giving you three options. Choose the one that I should bring on you.”’”
24.13 So Gad came in to David and told him: “Should seven years of famine come on your land? Or should you flee for three months from your adversaries while they pursue you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider carefully what I should reply to the One who sent me.”
24.14 So David said to Gad: “It is very distressing to me. Let us fall, please, into the hand of Jehovah, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
24.15 Then Jehovah sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the designated time, so that 70,000 of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.
24.16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah felt regret over the calamity, and he said to the angel bringing destruction among the people: “It is enough! Now let your hand drop.” Jehovah’s angel was close to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
24.17 When David saw the angel who was striking the people down, he said to Jehovah: “I am the one who sinned, and I am the one who did wrong; but these sheep—what have they done? Let your hand, please, come against me and my father’s house.”
24.18 So Gad came in to David on that day and said to him: “Go up, set up for Jehovah an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
24.19 So David went up at the word of Gad, as Jehovah had commanded.
24.20 When Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, Araunah immediately went out and bowed down to the king with his face to the ground.
24.21 Araunah asked: “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied: “To buy from you the threshing floor in order to build an altar to Jehovah, so that the scourge against the people may be halted.”
24.22 But Araunah said to David: “Let my lord the king take it and offer up what seems good to him. Here are cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the equipment of the cattle for the wood.
24.23 All of this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” Then Araunah said to the king: “May Jehovah your God show you favor.”
24.24 However, the king said to Araunah: “No, I must buy it from you for a price. I will not offer up to Jehovah my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for 50 silver shekels.
24.25 And David built an altar there to Jehovah and offered up burnt sacrifices and communion sacrifices. Jehovah then responded to the entreaty for the land, and the scourge against Israel was halted.