tain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three. 20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: and he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men. 23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. terly burned with fire in the same place. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to bat tle, and the men of Israel were gone away: 10 he arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory. 13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. 14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. 15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. 17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. 18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three. 19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their cap MAY 13. Evening. 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. 2 24 AND again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. 3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? 4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. 5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer: then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, 7 and came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there ing on toward him: and Araunah went were in Israel eight hundred thousand out, and bowed himself before the king valiant men that drew the sword; and on his face upon the ground. 21 And the men of Judah were five hundred thou- | Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the sand men. 10 And David's heart smote king come to his servant? And David him after that he had numbered the peo- said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, ple. And David said unto the LORD, to build an altar unto the LORD, that I have sinned greatly in that I have the plague may be stayed from the peodone: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, ple. 22 And Araunah said unto David, take away the iniquity of thy servant; Let my lord the king take and offer up for I have done very foolishly. "For what seemeth good unto him: behold, when David was up in the morning, the here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and word of the LORD came unto the pro- threshing instruments and other instruphet Gad, David's seer, saying, 2Go ments of the oxen for wood. 23 All these and say unto David, Thus saith the things did Araunah, as a king, give unto LORD, I offer thee three things; choose the king. And Araunah said unto the thee one of them, that I may do it unto king, The LORD thy God accept thee. thee. 13 So Gad came to David, and 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; told him, and said unto him, Shall seven but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: years of famine come unto thee in thy neither will I offer burnt offerings unto land? or wilt thou flee three months be- the LORD my God of that which doth fore thine enemies, while they pursue cost me nothing. So David bought the thee? or that there be three days' pesti- threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty lence in thy land? now advise, and see shekels of silver. 25 And David built what answer I shall return to him that there an altar unto the LORD, and offersent me. 14 And David said unto Gad, ed burnt offerings and peace offerings. I am in a great strait: let us fall now So the LORD was intreated for the land, into the hand of the LORD; for his mer- and the plague was stayed from Israel. cies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. 15 So the LORD sent MAY 14. Morning. 1 Kings I. I. OW king David was old and a pestilence upon Israel from the morn: 1 N stricken in years; and they co ing even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. 18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. 20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants com vered him with clothes, but he gat no shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. 22 And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. 23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah. 26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants: 10 but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. II Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? 14 Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words. 15 And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. 16 And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? 17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: 19and he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king MAY 14. Evening. 1 Kings 1. 28. 28 THEN king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king. 29 And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 3o even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 31 Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever. 32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34 and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35 Then ye shall come bed. 48 And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. ΙΟ up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: MAY 15. Morning. 1 Chron. XXIX. 10. the LORD God of my lord the king say 29 10 WHEREFORE David blessed the so too. 37 As the LORD hath been with LORD before all the congregation: and my lord the king, even so be he with David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God Solomon, and make his throne greater of Israel our father, for ever and ever. than the throne of my lord king David. | Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and 38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the the power, and the glory, and the vicprophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoi- tory, and the majesty: for all that is in ada, and the Cherethites, and the Pe- the heaven and in the earth is thine; lethites, went down, and caused Solo- thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou mon to ride upon king David's mule, art exalted as head above all. 12 Both and brought him to Gihon. 39 And Za- riches and honour come of thee, and thou dok the priest took an horn of oil out of reignest over all; and in thine hand is the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. power and might; and in thine hand it And they blew the trumpet; and all the is to make great, and to give strength people said, God save king Solomon. unto all. 13 Now therefore, our God, 40 And all the people came up after him, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious and the people piped with pipes, and name. 14 But who am I, and what is rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth my people, that we should be able to rent with the sound of them. 41 And offer so willingly after this sort? for all Adonijah and all the guests that were things come of thee, and of thine own with him heard it as they had made an have we given thee. 15 For we are stranend of eating. And when Joab heard the gers before thee, and sojourners, as were sound of the trumpet, he said, Where- all our fathers: our days on the earth fore is this noise of the city being in an are as a shadow, and there is none uproar? 42 And while he yet spake, abiding. 160 LORD our God, all this behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar store that we have prepared to build the priest came: and Adonijah said unto thee an house for thine holy name cometh him, Come in; for thou art a valiant of thine hand, and is all thine own. 17I man, and bringest good tidings. 43 And know also, my God, that thou triest the Jonathan answered and said to Adoni- heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. jah, Verily our lord king David hath As for me, in the uprightness of mine made Solomon king. 44 And the king heart I have willingly offered all these hath sent with him Zadok the priest, things: and now have I seen with joy and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah thy people, which are present here, to the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, offer willingly unto thee. 18O LORD God and the Pelethites, and they have caused of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our him to ride upon the king's mule: 45 and fathers, keep this for ever in the imagiZadok the priest and Nathan the pro- nation of the thoughts of the heart of phet have anointed him king in Gihon: thy people, and prepare their heart unto and they are come up from thence re- thee: 19and give unto Solomon my son joicing, so that the city rang again. This a perfect heart, to keep thy commandis the noise that ye have heard. 46 And ments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, also Solomon sitteth on the throne of and to do all these things, and to build the kingdom. 47 And moreover the king's the palace, for the which I have made servants came to bless our lord king provision. 20 And David said to all the David, saying, God make the name of congregation, Now bless the LORD your Solomon better than thy name, and God. And all the congregation blessed make his throne greater than thy throne. the LORD God of their fathers, and bowAnd the king bowed himself upon the ed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king. And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance, for all Israel: 22 and did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest. 23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. 24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. 25 And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. 26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. 28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. 29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, 30 with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries. places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. 5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. "And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as is this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. II And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto MAY 15. Evening. 1 Kings III. I. 3 AND Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. 3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high |