Israel’s Only Savior

¹But now, this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob,and He who formed you, O Israel:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

²When you pass through the waters,I will be with you;and when you go through the rivers,they will not overwhelm you.When you walk through the fire,you will not be scorched;the flames will not set you ablaze.

³For I am the LORD your God,the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;I give Egypt for your ransom,Cushand Seba in your place.

⁴Because you are precious and honored in My sight,and because I love you,I will give men in exchange for youand nations in place of your life.

⁵Do not be afraid, for I am with you;I will bring your offspring from the eastand gather you from the west.

⁶I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’Bring My sons from afar,and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

⁷everyone called by My name and created for My glory,whom I have indeed formed and made.”

⁸Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind,and who have ears but are deaf.

⁹All the nations gather togetherand the peoples assemble.Who among them can declare this,and proclaim to us the former things?Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them,so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,“and My servant whom I have chosen,so that you may consider and believe Meand understand that I am He.Before Me no god was formed,and after Me none will come.

¹¹I, yes I, am the LORD,and there is no Savior but Me.

¹²I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you.So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,“that I am God.

¹³Even from eternity I am He,and none can deliver out of My hand.When I act, who can reverse it?”

A Way in the Wilderness

¹⁴Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,the Holy One of Israel:“For your sake, I will send to Babylonand bring them all as fugitives,even the Chaldeans,in the ships in which they rejoice.

¹⁵I am the LORD, your Holy One,the Creator of Israel, and your King.”

¹⁶Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the seaand a path through the surging waters,

¹⁷who brings out the chariots and horses,the armies and warriors together,to lie down, never to rise again;to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

¹⁸“Do not call to mind the former things;pay no attention to the things of old.

¹⁹Behold, I am about to do something new;even now it is coming. Do you not see it?Indeed, I will make a way in the wildernessand streams in the desert.

²⁰The beasts of the field will honor Me,the jackalsand the ostriches,because I provide water in the wildernessand rivers in the desert,to give drink to My chosen people.

²¹The people I formed for Myselfwill declare My praise.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

²²But you have not called on Me, O Jacob,because you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.

²³You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings,nor honored Me with your sacrifices.I have not burdened you with offerings,nor wearied you with frankincense.

²⁴You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver,nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.But you have burdened Me with your sins;you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

²⁵I, yes I, am Hewho blots out your transgressions for My own sakeand remembers your sins no more.

²⁶Remind Me, let us argue the matter together.State your case, so that you may be vindicated.

²⁷Your first father sinned,and your spokesmen rebelled against Me.

²⁸So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary,and I will devote Jacob to destructionand Israel to reproach.”

The Mighty Men Join David at Ziklag

¹Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;

²they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

³Ahiezer their chief and Joash, who were the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite;Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth;Beracah;Jehu the Anathothite;

⁴Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty;Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;

⁵Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite;

⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, who were Korahites;

⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

⁸Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:

⁹Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbanai the eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were army commanders, the least of whom was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

¹⁵These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.

¹⁷And David went out to meet them, saying, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said:“We are yours, O David!We are with you, O son of Jesse!Peace, peace to you,and peace to your helpers,for your God helps you.”So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

¹⁹Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)

²⁰When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him:Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

²¹They helped David against the raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and commanders in the army.

²²For at that time men came to David day after day to help him, until he had a great army, like the army of God.

David’s Army Grows at Hebron

²³Now these are the numbers of men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, in accordance with the word of the LORD:

²⁴From Judah: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

²⁵From Simeon: 7,100 mighty men of valor, ready for battle.

²⁶From Levi: 4,600,

²⁷including Jehoiada, leader of the house of Aaron, with 3,700 men,

²⁸and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.

²⁹From Benjamin, the kinsmen of Saul: 3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to the house of Saul up to that time.

³⁰From Ephraim: 20,800 mighty men of valor, famous among their own clans.

³¹From the half-tribe of Manasseh:18,000 designated by name to come and make David king.

³²From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.

³³From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.

³⁴From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders, accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear.

³⁵From Dan: 28,600 prepared for battle.

³⁶From Asher: 40,000 fit for service, prepared for battle.

³⁷And from east of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh there: 120,000 armed with every kind of weapon of war.

³⁸All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

³⁹They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.

⁴⁰And their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—abundant supplies of flour, fig cakes and raisin cakes, wine and oil, oxen and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

¹When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

²“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

³So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”

⁵So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

⁶Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

⁷And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked.“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

⁸Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

⁹Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

¹⁰“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.

¹¹We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

¹²“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

¹³But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

¹⁴Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

¹⁵And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

¹⁷So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

¹⁸and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

¹⁹If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

²⁰Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.”And to this they consented.

²¹Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

²²And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

²³They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

²⁴And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silverto his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

²⁶and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

²⁷At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

²⁸“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.”Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

³⁰“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

³¹But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.

³²We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

³³Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

³⁴But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”

³⁵As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

³⁷Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

The LORD Is My Shepherd

¹The LORD is my shepherd;I shall not want.

²He makes me lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside quiet waters.

³He restores my soul;He guides me in the paths of righteousnessfor the sake of His name.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy will follow meall the days of my life,and I will dwell in the house of the LORDforever.