23rd July

¹ And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.² And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.³ David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.⁸ And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.⁹ When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,¹⁰ Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:¹¹ Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;¹² Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.¹³ And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.¹⁴ And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.¹⁵ And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.¹⁶ And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;¹⁷ And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;¹⁸ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.

¹ And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?² And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.³ And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.⁴ And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.⁵ Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.⁶ Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!⁷ And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.⁸ And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?⁹ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.¹⁰ Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.¹¹ Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.¹² And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.

¹ Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.² So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.³ And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,⁴ Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.⁵ So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.⁶ And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.⁷ Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.⁸ Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,⁹ Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.¹⁰ This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.¹¹ For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.¹² Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?¹³ Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.¹⁴ And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.¹⁵ Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.¹⁷ But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive.¹⁸ Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.¹⁹ The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.²⁰ Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?²¹ What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?²² And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.²³ Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.²⁴ Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.²⁵ This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.²⁶ Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.²⁷ I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

¹ And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.² And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.¹⁵ When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)¹⁶ Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:¹⁷ Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:¹⁸ Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.¹⁹ And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!²⁰ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:²¹ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.²² And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.²³ Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.²⁵ Behold, I have told you before.²⁶ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.²⁷ For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.²⁸ For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.³² Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:³³ So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.³⁶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.³⁷ But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.⁴⁰ Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.⁴¹ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.⁴⁸ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;⁴⁹ And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;⁵⁰ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,⁵¹ And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.