1  & 2 Samuel (GOD'S WORD)









































1 Samuel 2:5-10 (GOD'S WORD)

   5 Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for a piece of bread,
        but those who were hungry hunger no more.
        Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children,
            but the mother of many children grieves all alone.

    6 “The LORD kills, and he gives life.
        He makes {people} go down to the grave, and he raises them up {again} .
    7       The LORD causes poverty and grants wealth.
            He humbles {people}; he also promotes them.
    8       He raises the poor from the dust.
            He lifts the needy from the trash heap
                in order to make them sit with nobles
                    and even to make them inherit a glorious throne.

          “The pillars of the earth are the LORD’s.
                He has set the world on them.
    9           He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones,
                    but wicked people are silenced in darkness
                        because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.
    10   “Those who oppose the LORD are broken into pieces.
                He thunders at them from the heavens.
                The LORD judges the ends of the earth.
                    He gives strength to his King
                        and lifts the head of his Messiah.”









































1 Samuel 9:26-27 (GOD'S WORD)

   26At dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get up! {It's time for} me to send you away." Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside. 27As they were going toward the city limits, Samuel told Saul, "Have the servant go ahead of you." (He went ahead.) "But you stay here, and I will tell you God's word."












































1 Samuel 16:14-23 (GOD'S WORD)

    14Now, the LORD’s Spirit had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15Saul’s officials told him, “An evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Your Majesty, why don’t you command us to look for a man who can play the lyre well? When the evil spirit from God comes to you, he’ll strum a tune, and you’ll feel better.”
    17Saul told his officials, “Please find me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
    18One of the officials said, “I know one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem who can play well. He’s a courageous man and a warrior. He has a way with words, he is handsome, and the LORD is with him.”












































1 Samuel 17:1-11 (GOD'S WORD)

    1The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at
Ephes Dammim. 2So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines. 3The
Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them.
    4The Philistine army’s champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.a 5He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds. 6On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin. 7The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him.
 8Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, “Why do you form a battle line?
Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to fight me. 9If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.” 10The Philistine added, “I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other.” 11When Saul and all the Israelites heard what this Philistine said, they were gripped with fear.












































1 Samuel 17:26 (GOD'S WORD)

    26David asked the men who were standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel's disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of the living God?"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2 Samuel 3:1-39 (GOD'S WORD)

    1As the war between the royal families of Saul and David dragged on, David’s family became stronger and stronger, and Saul’s family became  weaker and weaker.
    2Sons were born to David while he was in Hebron. His first son was Amnon, born to Ahinoam from Jezreel. 3The second was Chileab, born to Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel. The third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah (the daughter of King Talmai) from Geshur. 4The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose
mother was Abital. 5The sixth was Ithream, bbornn to David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David while he was in Hebron.
    6During the war between the families of Saul and David, Abner strengthened his position in Saul’s royal family. 7Saul had a concubinea named Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter). Ishbosheth asked Abner, “Why did you have sex with my father’s concubine?”
    8Ishbosheth’s question made Abner very angry. “Have I been behaving like some Judean dog?”b he asked. “Until now I’ve been faithful to your father Saul’s family, to his relatives and friends, and I haven’t handed you over to David. But now you charge me with a crime because of this woman. 9May God strike me dead unless I do for David what the LORD had promised him with an
oath: 10‘I, the LORD, will transfer the kingship from Saul’s family and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.’ ” 11Ishbosheth couldn’t respond to a single word, because he was afraid of Abner.
    12Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak on his behalf. “Who owns this country?” he asked. “Make an agreement with me,” he said. “I’ll support you and bring all Israel to you.”
    13“Good!” David answered. “I’ll make an agreement with you. But there’s one condition: You can’t come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”
    14Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ishbosheth to say, “Give me my wife Michal. I made a payment of 100 Philistine foreskins for her.”
    15So Ishbosheth sent men to take her from her husband Paltiel, son of Laish. 16Her husband went with her and cried over her all the way to Bahurim.
“Go home,” Abner told him. So he went home.
    17Meanwhile, Abner sent the following message to the leaders of Israel: “For some time now you’ve wanted to make David your king. 18Do it now, because the LORD said about David: ‘I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies through my servant David.’ ”19Abner also spoke specifically to the people of Benjamin. Then Abner went directly to David in Hebron to tell him everything Israel and the entire tribe of Benjamin had approved. 20So Abner came with 20 men to David in Hebron, and David had a feast for Abner and his men.
    21Abner told David, “I must go now so that I can gather all Israel for you, Your Majesty. They will make a treaty with you, and you will rule everything your heart desires.” Then David dismissed Abner, who left peacefully.
    22Just then David’s men and Joab were coming home from a raid with a lot of goods. Abner had been dismissed, so he was no longer with David in Hebron.
    23When Joab came back with the whole army, he was told, “Ner’s son Abner came to the king, but David dismissed him, and Abner left peacefully.”
    24Then Joab went to the king and asked, “What have you done? Abner came to see you. Why did you dismiss him and let him get away? 25Certainly you must know that Ner’s son Abner came to deceive you, to find out about your movements and learn everything you’re doing!”
    26After leaving David, Joab sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the cistern of Sirah without David knowing about it. 27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway as if to talk to him privately. There he stabbed Abner in the belly. Abner died because he spilled the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
    28Later when David heard about it, he said, “As far as the LORD is concerned, my kingdom and I are forever innocent of spilling the blood of Ner’s son Abner. 29May the blame fall on the head of Joab and all of his family. May there always be members of Joab’s family who have oozing sores and skin diseases, who can only work a spindle,who die in battle, and who never have any
food.” 30( Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
    31David told Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” King David followed the open casket. 32They buried Abner in Hebron. The king cried loudly at Abner’s grave, and all the people cried. 33The king sang a funeral song for Abner: Should Abner die like a godless fool?
    34 Your hands were not tied. Your feet were not chained. You fell as one falls in front of wicked men. And all the people continued to cry for him.
    35That entire day all the people tried to get David to eat some food. But David had taken an oath: “May God strike me dead if I taste any food or anything else before the sun goes down.” 36Then all the people understood and approved of this, as all the people approved of everything the king did.
    37That day all the people of Israel knew the king wasn’t responsible for killing Ner’s son Abner. 38The king said to his officers, “Don’t you know that today a leader, a great man, has fallen in Israel?     39Today I’m weak, though I’m the anointed king. These men, Zeruiah’s sons, are too cruel for me. May the LORD repay this evildoer as his evil deeds deserve.”






















2 Samuel 8:1-8 (GOD'S WORD)

    1 After this, David defeated and crushed the Philistines. He took control of the main Philistine city from them.
    2 He also defeated Moab, made the Moabites lie down on the ground, and measured them with a rope. He measured two lengths which were to be
killed, and one length which was to be spared. So the Moabites became David’s subjects and paid taxes {to him}.
    3 When David went to restore his control {over the territory} along the Euphrates River, he defeated Zobah’s King Hadadezer, son of Rehob. 4David took 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers from him. David also disabled all but 100 of their horses so that they couldn’t pull chariots.
    5When the Arameans from Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed 22,000 of them. 6David put troops in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became his subjects and paid taxes {to him}. Everywhere David went, the LORD gave him victories.
    7David took the gold shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants, and he brought them to Jerusalem. 8King David also took a large quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities.









































2 Samuel 11:2-5 (GOD'S WORD)

    1In the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, his mercenaries, and Israel’s army bto warn. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem.
    2Now, when evening came, David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the royal palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing, and she was very pretty. 3David sent someone to ask about the woman. The man said, “She’s Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4So David sent messengers and took her. She came to him, and he went to bed with her.
(She had just cleansed herself after her monthly period.) Then she went home. 5The woman had become pregnant. So she sent someone to tell David that she was pregnant.
    6Then David sent a messenger to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the troops were and how the war was going.
    8“Go home,” David said to Uriah, “and wash your feet.” Uriah left the royal palace, and the king sent a present to him. 9But Uriah slept at the entrance of
the royal palace among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.
    10When they told David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
    11Uriah answered David, “The ark and bthe army ofn Israel and Judah are in temporary shelters, and my commander Joab and Your Majesty’s mercenaries are living in the field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and go to bed with my wife? I solemnly swear, as sure as you’re living, I won’t do this!”
    12David said to Uriah, “Then stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13David summoned him, ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But that evening Uriah went to lie down on his bed among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.
    14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is heaviest. Then abandon him so that he’ll be struck down and die.”
    16Since Joab had kept the city under observation, he put Uriah at the place where he knew the experienced warriors were. 17The men of the city came out and fought Joab. Some of the people, namely, some of David’s mercenaries, fell and died—including Uriah the Hittite.
    18Then Joab sent a messenger to report to David all the details of the battle. 19And he commanded the messenger, “When you finish telling the king about the battle, 20the king may become angry. He might ask you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall? 21Who killed Jerubbesheth’sa son Abimelech? Didn’t a woman on the
wall of Thebez throw a small millstone at him and kill him? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ If the king asks this, then say, ‘Your man Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’ ”
    22The messenger left, and when he arrived, he reported to David everything Joab told him to say. 23The messenger said, “Their men overpowered us and came to attack us in the field. Then we forced them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24The archers on the wall shot down at your mercenaries, and some of Your Majesty’s mercenaries died. Your man Uriah the Hittite also is dead.”
    25David said to the messenger, “This is what you are to say to Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing trouble you, because a sword can kill one person as easily as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage him.”
    26When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for him. 27When her mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to his home, and she became his wife. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD considered David’s actions evil.










































2 Samuel 12:26-31 (GOD'S WORD)

    26 Meanwhile, Joab fought against the Ammonite city of Rabbah and captured its royal fortress. 27So he sent messengers to tell David, “I fought against Rabbah and captured the fortress guarding its water supply. 28Gather the rest of the troops, surround the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”
    29So David gathered all the troops and went to Rabbah. He fought against the city and captured it. 30He took the gold crown from the head of Rabbah’s king and put it on his own head. (The crown weighed 75 pounds and contained a precious stone.) David also took a lot of goods from the city. 31He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.














































2 Samuel 22:2-16 (GOD'S WORD)

    2 He (David) said,

            The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my Savior,
    3             my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield,
                        the strength of my salvation, my stronghold,
                            my refuge, and my Savior who saved me from violence.
    4     The LORD should be praised.
                I called on him, and I was saved from my enemies.

    5     The waves of death had surrounded me.
                The torrents of destruction had overwhelmed me.
    6                 The ropes of the grave had surrounded me.
                            The clutches of death had confronted me.

    7     I called on the LORD in my distress.
                I called to my God for help.
                    He heard my voice from his temple,
                        and my cry for help reached his ears.

    8     Then the earth shook and quaked.
                Even the foundations of the heavens trembled.
                    They shook violently because he was angry.
    9     Smoke went up from his nostrils,
                and a raging fire came out of his mouth.
                    Glowing coals flared up from it.
    10     He spread apart the heavens
                and came down with a dark cloud under his feet.
    11     He rode on one of the angels as he flew,
                and he soared on the wings of the wind.
    12     He surrounded himself with darkness.
                He made the dark rain clouds his covering.
    13     Out of the brightness in front of him, he made lightning.
    14     The LORD thundered from heaven.
           The Most High made his voice heard.
    15     He shot arrows and scattered them.
           He flashed streaks of lightning and threw them into confusion.
    16         Then the ocean floor could be seen.
                The foundations of the earth were laid bare
                    at the LORD’s stern warning,
                    at the blast of the breath from his nostrils.













































2 Samuel 24:10-17 (GOD'S WORD)

    10Today you saw how the LORD handed you over to me in the cave. Although I was told to kill you, I spared you, saying, ‘I will not raise my hand against Your Majesty because you are the
LORD’s anointed.’ 11My master, look at this! The border of your robe is in my hand! Since I cut off the border of your robe and didn’t kill you, you should know and be able to see I mean no harm or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you, but you are trying to ambush me in order to take my life. 12May the LORD decide between you and me. May the LORD take revenge on you for what you
did to me. However, I will not lay a hand on you. 13It’s like people used to say long ago, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ But I will not lay a hand on you. 14Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? One flea? 15So the LORD must be the judge. He will decide between you and me. He will watch and take my side in this matter and set me
free from you.”
    16When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that you speaking, my servant David?” and Saul cried loudly. 17He told David, “You are more righteous than I. You treated me well while I treated you badly.