Dynasty of kings for you
But that same night the LORD said to Nathan, Go and tell my servant David, This is what the LORD says... Now I will make your name famous throughout the earth... | And now the Lord declares that He will build a house for you a dynasty of kings! For when you die, I will raise up one of your descendants, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house - a temple for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him. But my unfailing love will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed before you. Your dynasty and your kingdom will continue for all time before me, and your throne will be secure forever.
Chapter Four | I will pay the price
That day Gad came to David and said to him, Go and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, So David went to do what the LORD had commanded him. When Araunah saw the king and his men coming towards him, he came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. Why have you come, my lord? Araunah asked. And David replied, I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that the Lord will stop the plague | Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish Araunah said to David. Here are oxen for the burn offering and you can use the threshing tools and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice. But the king replied to Araunah, No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing. So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped!!
Chapter Four | I will pay the price
That day Gad came to David and said to him, Go and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, So David went to do what the LORD had commanded him. When Araunah saw the king and his men coming towards him, he came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. Why have you come, my lord? Araunah asked. And David replied, I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that the Lord will stop the plague | Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish Araunah said to David. Here are oxen for the burn offering and you can use the threshing tools and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice. But the king replied to Araunah, No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing. So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped!!
Davids mighty men
Jashobeam the Hacmonite
Eleazar
Shammah
And the three broke the ranks
David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem. David remarked longingly to his men, Oh, how I would love some of that good water, from the well in Bethlehem, the one by the gate. So the three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from there, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. The Lord forbid that I should drink this! He exclaimed. This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me. So David did not drink it. This is an example of the exploits of the three.
Chapter Five | Follow me! We came for you!
Stephen Bass
For service as set forth in the following citation for extraordinary heroism while serving with the British Special Boat Service during combat operations in Northern Afghanistan on 25 and 26 November 2001. Chief Petty Officer Stephen Bass deployed to the area as a member of a joint American and British Special Forces Rescue Team to locate and recover two missing American citizens, one presumed to be seriously injured or dead, after hard-line al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at the Qala-i-jangi fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif over-powered them and gained access to large quantities of arms and ammunition stored at the fortress. Once inside, Chief Petty officer Bass was engaged continuously by direct small arms fire, indirect mortar fire, and rocket propelled grenade fire. He was forced to walk through an active anti-personnel minefield in order to gain entry to the fortress. After establishing the possible location of both American citizens, under heavy fire and without concern for his own personal safety, he made two attempts to rescue the uninjured citizen by crawling towards the fortress interior to reach him. Forced to withdraw due to large volumes of fire falling on his position, he was undeterred. After reporting his efforts to the remaining members of the recue team, they left and attempted to locate the missing citizen on the outside of the fortress. As darkness began to fall, no attempt was going to be made to locate the other injured American citizen. Chief Petty Officer Bass then took matters into his own hands. Without regard for his own personal safety, he moved forward another three hundred to four hundred meters into the heart of the fortress by himself under constant enemy fire in an attempt to locate the injured citizen., running low on ammunition, he utilized weapons from deceased Afghans to continue his rescue attempt. Upon verifying the condition and location of the American citizen he withdrew from the fortress. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership; unlimited courage in the face of enemy fires and utmost devotion to duty, chief Petty officer Bass reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval service.
THE UNITED STATES NAVY SEAL CREED
Chapter Six | I will preserve you
Let there be rain!
Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!... And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel
Pay your dues
Bitterness into sweetness
Now the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha, We have a problem, my lord, they told him. This town is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unproductive. Elisha said, Bring me a new bowl with salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, This is what the Lord says: I have made this water wholesome. It will no longer cause death or infertility. And sure enough! The water has remained wholesome ever since, just as Elisha said
Come and eat
Later Elisha asked Gehazi, What do you think we can do for her? He suggested, she doesnt have a son, and her husband is an old man. Call her back again, Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, Next year at about this time you will be holding a son in your arm!..
Give me a guarantee
Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families | We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety; the men agreed. if you dont betray us, we will keep our promise when the Lord gives us the land..... Before they left, the men told her, we can guarantee your safety only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members - your father, mother, brothers and your relatives-must be here inside the house.
Where you go I will go
Where you go I will go
But Ruth replied, Dont ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!
Yes, I know, Boaz replied but I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge reward you fully
Chapter Seven | Cook that last meal
So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a window gathering sticks, and he asked her, Would you please bring me a cup of water? As she was going to get it, he called to her, Bring me a bite of bread too. But she said, I swear by the LORD your God that I dont have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of a jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die. | But Elijah said to her, Dont be afraid! Go ahead and cook that last meal, but bake me a little loaf of bread first. Afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again.
Some time later, the womans son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. She then said to Elijah, O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son? But Elijah replied Give me your son. And he took the boys body from her, carried him up to the upper room, where he lived and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy on this window who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die? | And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, O Lord my God, please let this childs life return to him. The Lord heard Elijahs prayer and the life of the child returned and he came back to life! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Look, your son is alive! He said.
Few loaves and a little fish
Others
So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administration responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didnt have a worry in the world, except to decide what he wanted to eat. Now Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and about this time, Potiphars wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her. But Joseph refused. Look! He told her, my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do! He had held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.