2 Samuel 14:14 “For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, whi…”

2 Samuel 14:14

For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

World English Bible

For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him.

American Standard Version

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.

Geneva Bible 1599

For we must needes dye, and we are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered vp againe: neither doeth God spare any person, yet doeth he appoynt meanes, not to cast out from him, him that is expelled.

Darby Translation

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him.

Young's Literal Translation

for we do surely die, and [are] as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.

Bible in Basic English

For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.

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Cross references

“we must”

Job 30:23 Hebrews 9:27 Job 34:15 Ecclesiastes 9:5 2 Samuel 11:25 Psalm 90:10

Job 30:23 · BSB

Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

Hebrews 9:27 · BSB

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Job 34:15 · BSB

all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 · BSB

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

2 Samuel 11:25 · BSB

Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.…

Psalm 90:10 · BSB

The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

“as water”

Job 14:7–12 Job 14:14 Psalm 22:14 Psalm 79:3

Job 14:7–12 · BSB

For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.

Job 14:14 · BSB

When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

Psalm 22:14 · BSB

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.

Psalm 79:3 · BSB

They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

“God”

Matthew 22:16 Romans 2:11 Deuteronomy 10:17 Job 34:19 Acts 10:34 1 Peter 1:17

Matthew 22:16 · BSB

They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no…

Romans 2:11 · BSB

For God does not show favoritism.

Deuteronomy 10:17 · BSB

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

Job 34:19 · BSB

who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

Acts 10:34 · BSB

Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,

1 Peter 1:17 · BSB

Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.

“he devise”

Numbers 35:28 Numbers 35:15 Numbers 35:25 Exodus 21:13 Leviticus 26:40 Isaiah 50:1

Numbers 35:28 · BSB

because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.

Numbers 35:15 · BSB

These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

Numbers 35:25 · BSB

The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was…

Exodus 21:13 · BSB

If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Leviticus 26:40 · BSB

But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—

Isaiah 50:1 · BSB

This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your…

Also

Psalm 58:7

Psalm 58:7 · BSB

May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

13The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

15Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.

Read 2 Samuel 14