Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

8Verse 8. When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him. 9Verse 9. But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, 10Verse 10. Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David eluded him and the spear struck the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 11Verse 11. Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 12Verse 12. So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped. 13Verse 13. Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. 14Verse 14. When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.” 15Verse 15. But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” 16Verse 16. And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair on its head. 17Verse 17. And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”

1Verse 1. Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction — doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king — and that the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them. 2Verse 2. So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty. 3Verse 3. Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4Verse 4. “Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” 5Verse 5. So the five kings of the Amorites— the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon— joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it. 6Verse 6. Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.” 7Verse 7. So Joshua and his whole army, including all the mighty men of valor, came from Gilgal. 8Verse 8. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not one of them shall stand against you.” 9Verse 9. After marching all night from Gilgal, Joshua caught them by surprise. 10Verse 10. And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11Verse 11. As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites. 12Verse 12. On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13Verse 13. So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” 14Verse 14. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.