Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

¹If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

²your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

³Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

⁴bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.

⁵And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

⁶Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

⁷and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

⁸Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.”And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

⁹So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Marrying a Captive Woman

¹⁰When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

¹¹if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,

¹²then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,

¹³and put aside the clothing of her captivity.After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

¹⁴And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

¹⁵If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

¹⁶when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.

¹⁷Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

A Rebellious Son

¹⁸If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

¹⁹his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

²⁰and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

²¹Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you,and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

Cursed Is Anyone Hung on a Tree

²²If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

²³you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Samuel Anoints David

¹Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

²“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!”The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

³Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.”

⁴So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵“In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

⁹Next Jesse presented Shammah,but Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

¹⁰Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.”

¹¹And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?”“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.”“Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

¹²So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

David Serves Saul

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distressfrom the LORD began to torment him.

¹⁵Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.

¹⁶Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.”

¹⁷And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.”

¹⁸One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.”

¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

²⁰And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat and sent them to Saul with his son David.

²¹When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.

²²Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

²³And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.

Absalom’s Return to Jerusalem

¹Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.

²So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

³Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”

⁵“What troubles you?” the king asked her.“Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

⁶And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

⁷Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed. Then we will cut off the heir as well!’ So they would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the earth.”

⁸“Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.”

⁹But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

¹⁰“If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!”

¹¹“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!”“As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?”“Speak,” he replied.

¹³The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

¹⁴For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

¹⁵Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.

¹⁶For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’

¹⁷And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angelof God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

¹⁸Then the king said to the woman, “I am going to ask you something; do not conceal it from me!”“Let my lord the king speak,” she replied.

¹⁹So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?”The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.

²⁰Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Joab fell facedown in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his request.”

²³So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.

²⁵Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

²⁶And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels,according to the royal standard.

²⁷Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.

Absalom Reconciled to David

²⁸Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.

²⁹Then he sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him.So Absalom sent a second time, but Joab still would not come.

³⁰Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!”And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

³²“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

³³So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

Warnings against Foolishness

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

²if you have been trapped by the words of your lips,ensnared by the words of your mouth,

³then do this, my son, to free yourself,for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:Go, humble yourself,and press your plea with your neighbor.

⁴Allow no sleep to your eyesor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker;observe its ways and become wise.

⁷Without a commander,without an overseer or ruler,

⁸it prepares its provisions in summer;it gathers its food at harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, O slacker?When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,a little folding of the hands to rest,

¹¹and poverty will come upon you like a robber,and need like a bandit.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man,walks with a perverse mouth,

¹³winking his eyes, speaking with his feet,and pointing with his fingers.

¹⁴With deceit in his heart he devises evil;he continually sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

¹⁷haughty eyes,a lying tongue,hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes,feet that run swiftly to evil,

¹⁹a false witness who gives false testimony,and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

Warnings against Adultery

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment,and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

²¹Bind them always upon your heart;tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, they will guide you;when you lie down, they will watch over you;when you awake, they will speak to you.

²³For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light,and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

²⁴to keep you from the evil woman,from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beautyor let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

²⁷Can a man embrace fireand his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can a man walk on hot coalswithout scorching his feet?

²⁹So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise the thiefif he steals to satisfy his hunger.

³¹Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold;he must give up all the wealth of his house.

³²He who commits adultery lacks judgment;whoever does so destroys himself.

³³Wounds and dishonor will befall him,and his reproach will never be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy enrages a husband,and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not be appeased by any ransom,or persuaded by lavish gifts.