American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was {In 1 Chronicles 8:34; 9:40, Merib-baal.}Mephibosheth.
And they heard the {Or, sound}voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the {Hebrew: wind.}cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day.
All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not;
but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, not when Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David's enemies.
And Jonathan caused David to swear again, {Or, by his love toward him}for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together {Some ancient authorities read in Christ.}with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
If ye died with Christ from the {Or, elements See Galatians 4:3 margin}rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances,
But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:
and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.
And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a {Or, skin}bottle of wine.
And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.
And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said, To-day will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, O king.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the {Or, presence}coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore {Or, exhort chapter 5:11.}comfort one another with these words.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
{Or, because our gospel & c.}how that our {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much {Or, fulness}assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.
And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.