Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if {they be} the children of men, cursed {be} they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods. {accept: Heb. smell} {abiding: Heb. cleaving}

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

For kings, and {for} all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. {authority: or, eminent place}

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that {are} with him.

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed {her} up: certainly this {is} the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen {it}.

The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought {them} down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. {brought...: Heb. made to touch}

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that {appertained} unto Korah, and all {their} goods.

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth {is} mine:

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

For the LORD'S portion {is} his people; Jacob {is} the lot of his inheritance. {lot: Heb. cord}

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Thou {art} thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou {art} the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother {was} an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

{The inhabitants of} the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

For we that are in {this} tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if {they be} the children of men, cursed {be} they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods. {accept: Heb. smell} {abiding: Heb. cleaving}

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

{The inhabitants of} the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. {of late: Heb. yesterday} {with the: Heb. over against a}

So that contrariwise ye {ought} rather to forgive {him}, and comfort {him}, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

For kings, and {for} all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. {authority: or, eminent place}

Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. {Ah...: Heb. Ah, ah, our soul}

I {am for} peace: but when I speak, they {are} for war. {for peace: or, a man of peace}

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that {are} with him.