2Sa 9, 2Sa 11, Jer 15 | ESV | STEP | And David said , Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul , that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake ?

1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ^ashow him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^bZiba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show ^cthe kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of ^dJonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of ^eMachir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And ^fMephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, ^gfor I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and ^hyou shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for ⁱa dead dog such as I?”

9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson ^jshall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had ^kfifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ^late at David’s ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew my} table, like one of the king’s sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, ⁿwhose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ohe ate always at the king’s table. Now ^phe was lame in both his feet.

2 Samuel 11

David and Bathsheba

1 ^q, ^rIn the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged ^sRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on ^tthe roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this ^uBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^vUriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. ( ^wNow she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^xwash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, ^y“The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and ^zthe servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and ^aaas your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, ^abso that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with ^acthe servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David ^adwrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, ^aethat he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 ^afWho killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and ^agshe became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Jeremiah 15

The Lord Will Not Relent

1 Then the Lord said to me, ^ah“Though ^aiMoses ^ajand Samuel ^akstood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^al“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 ^amI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^anthe birds of the air ^aoand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 ^apAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^aqManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

5 ^ar“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
^asor who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 ^atYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;
^auyou keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
^avI am weary of relenting.
7 ^awI have winnowed them with ^axa winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
^aythey did not turn from their ways.
8 I have made their widows more in number
than ^azthe sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9 ^baShe who bore seven has grown feeble;
^bbshe has fainted away;
^bcher sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,

declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 ^bdWoe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^beI have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron ^bgfrom the north, and bronze?

13 ^bh“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^bispoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies ^bjin a land that you do not know, ^bkfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

15 ^blO Lord, you know;
^bmremember me and visit me,
^bn, ^boand take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
^bpknow that ^bqfor your sake I bear reproach.
16 Your words were found, ^brand I ate them,
and ^bsyour words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
^btfor I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 ^buI did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
^bvI sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
^bwmy wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^bxlike a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^by“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall ^bzstand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 ^caAnd I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
^cbbut they shall not prevail over you,
^ccfor I am with you
to save you and deliver you,

declares the Lord.
21 ^cdI will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of ^cethe ruthless.”