¹⁹ So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

³⁹ As surely as the Lord lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him.

⁴⁵ But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die? He accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel! No, as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground,^(A) for he worked with God’s help today.”^(B) So the people redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die.

⁹ But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, the one who has redeemed my life from every distress,^(A)

²⁹ The king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty,^(A)

²⁴ And now, as the Lord lives—the one who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as he promised^(A)—I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!”

Blessing or Curse

¹⁴ “However, look, the days are coming”^(A)—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’^{(B) 15} but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north^(C) and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.^(D)