¹ Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh.

² In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler.

³ So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years,

⁵ Ruling over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah, for thirty-three years.

⁶ And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be able to come in here.

⁷ But David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David.

⁸ And that day David said, Whoever makes an attack on the Jebusites, let him go up by the water-pipe, and put to death all the blind and feeble-footed who are hated by David. And this is why they say, The blind and feeble-footed may not come into the house.

⁹ So David took the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo.

¹⁰ And David became greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of armies, was with him.

¹¹ And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house.

¹² And David saw that the Lord had made his position safe as king over Israel, and that he had made his kingdom great because of his people Israel.

¹³ And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters.

¹⁴ These are the names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon

¹⁵ And Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia

¹⁶ And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet.

¹⁷ And when the Philistines had news that David had been made king over Israel, they all went up in search of David; and David, hearing of it, went down to the strong place.

¹⁸ And when the Philistines came, they went in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ And David, desiring directions from the Lord, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? will you give them up into my hands? And the Lord said, go up, for I will certainly give up the Philistines into your hands.

²⁰ And David went to Baal-perazim, and overcame them there; and he said, The Lord has let the forces fighting against me be broken before me as a wall is broken by rushing waters. So that place was named Baal-perazim.

²¹ And the Philistines, when they went in flight, did not take their images with them, and David and his men took them away.

²² And the Philistines came up again, and went in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.

²³ And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.

²⁴ Then at the sound of footsteps in the tops of the trees, go forward quickly, for the Lord has gone out before you to overcome the army of the Philistines.

²⁵ And David did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon to near Gezer.

¹ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

³ He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.

⁵ Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

⁶ All flesh will see God's salvation.'"

⁷ He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, "You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don't begin to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father;' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!

⁹ Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire."

¹⁰ The multitudes asked him, "What then must we do?"

¹¹ He answered them, "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise."

¹² Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what must we do?"

¹³ He said to them, "Collect no more than that which is appointed to you."

¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, saying, "What about us? What must we do?" He said to them, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages."

¹⁵ As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ,

¹⁶ John answered them all, "I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

¹⁷ whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

¹⁸ Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people,

¹⁹ but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

²⁰ added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

²¹ Now it happened, when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened,

²² and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased."

²³ Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,

²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,

²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,

³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.