Study Desk

They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

"For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness.

For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

"For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me.

"Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, 1 Chronicles 27:4">[fn] the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated.

1 Chronicles 21:7-17">[xr] And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly."

"Go and tell David, "Thus says the LORD: "I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.""'

And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man."

Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Therefore his servants said to him, "Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm."

So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.