One Year Bible.

The House of David Strengthened

¹Now the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was protracted. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

²And sons were born to David in Hebron:

His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

³his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel;

his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

⁴his fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith;

his fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital;

⁵and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah.

These sons were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had continued to strengthen his position in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman! ⁹May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him: ¹⁰to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”

¹¹And for fear of Abner, Ish-bosheth did not dare to say another word to him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”

¹³“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

¹⁴Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

¹⁵So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he returned home.

¹⁷Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king. ¹⁸Now take action, because the LORD has said to David, ‘Through My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and of all their enemies.’”

¹⁹Abner also spoke to the Benjamites. Then he went to Hebron to tell David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin. ²⁰When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.

²¹Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.”

So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

²²Just then David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid, bringing with them a great plunder. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, because David had sent him on his way in peace. ²³When Joab and all his troops arrived, he was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, who sent him on his way in peace.”

²⁴So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away! ²⁵Surely you realize that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to track your movements and all that you are doing.”

²⁶As soon as Joab had left David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David was unaware of it.

²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²⁸Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

David Mourns for Abner

³¹Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.

³²When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept. ³³And the king sang this lament for Abner:

“Should Abner die

the death of a fool?

³⁴Your hands were not bound,

your feet were not fettered.

As a man falls before the wicked,

so also you fell.”

And all the people wept over him even more.

³⁵Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel? ³⁹And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver

and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the earth,

and copper is smelted from ore.

³Man puts an end to the darkness;

he probes the farthest recesses

for ore in deepest darkness.

⁴Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft

in places forgotten by the foot of man.

Far from men he dangles and sways.

⁵Food may come from the earth,

but from below it is transformed as by fire.

⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires,

containing flecks of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that path;

no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts have never trodden it;

no lion has ever prowled over it.

⁹The miner strikes the flint;

he overturns mountains at their base.

¹⁰He hews out channels in the rocks,

and his eyes spot every treasure.

¹¹He stops up the sources of the streams

to bring what is hidden to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found,

and where does understanding dwell?

¹³No man can know its value,

nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’

while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

in precious onyx or sapphire.

¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it,

nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.

¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention;

the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

¹⁹Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰From where, then, does wisdom come,

and where does understanding dwell?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing

and concealed from the birds of the air.

²²Abaddon and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

²³But God understands its way,

and He knows its place.

²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind

and measured out the waters,

²⁶when He set a limit for the rain

and a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁷then He looked at wisdom and appraised it;

He established it and searched it out.

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold,

the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Job’s Former Blessings

¹And Job continued his discourse:

²“How I long for the months gone by,

for the days when God watched over me,

³when His lamp shone above my head,

and by His light I walked through the darkness,

⁴when I was in my prime,

when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

⁶when my steps were bathed in cream

and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷When I went out to the city gate

and took my seat in the public square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the old men rose to their feet.

⁹The princes refrained from speaking

and covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The voices of the nobles were hushed,

and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed,

and those who saw me commended me,

¹²because I rescued the poor who cried out

and the fatherless who had no helper.

¹³The dying man blessed me,

and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

justice was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵I served as eyes to the blind

and as feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy,

and I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust

and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest

and multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters,

and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

²⁰My glory is ever new within me,

and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹Men listened to me with expectation,

waiting silently for my counsel.

²²After my words, they spoke no more;

my speech settled on them like dew.

²³They waited for me as for rain

and drank in my words like spring showers.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they did not believe it;

the light of my countenance was precious.

²⁵I chose their course and presided as chief.

So I dwelt as a king among his troops,

as a comforter of the mourners.[’’]