Absalom's Conspiracy

¹After this Absalom vgot himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ²And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside wthe way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” ³Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” ⁴Then Absalom would say, x“Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” ⁵And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷And at the end of four1 years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. ⁸For your servant zvowed a vow awhile I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to2 the Lord.’” ⁹The king said to him, b“Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” ¹¹With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem cwho were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. ¹²And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for3 dAhithophel the Gilonite, eDavid's counselor, from his city fGiloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom gkept increasing.

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³And a messenger came to David, saying, h“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” ¹⁴Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us iflee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” ¹⁶So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left jten concubines to keep the house. ¹⁷And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

¹⁸And kall his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from lGath, passed on before the king. ¹⁹Then the king said to mIttai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. ²⁰You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go nI know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show4 steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” ²¹But Ittai answered the king, o“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, pwherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” ²²And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed qthe brook rKidron, and all the people passed on toward sthe wilderness.

²⁴And tAbiathar came up, and behold, uZadok came also with all the Levites, vbearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. ²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will wbring me back and let me see both it and his xdwelling place. ²⁶But if he says, ‘I have no ypleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, zlet him do to me what seems good to him.” ²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a aseer? Go back5 to the city in peace, with byour two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸See, I will wait at cthe fords of sthe wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, dbarefoot and ewith his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, fweeping as they went. ³¹And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please gturn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³²While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai hthe Archite came to meet him iwith his coat torn and idirt on his head. ³³David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ja burden to me. ³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, k‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, ltell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶Behold, mtheir two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, mand by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷So Hushai, nDavid's friend, came into the city, ojust as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

Encouragement to Give Generously

¹We want you to know, brothers,1 about the grace of God that has been hgiven among the churches of Macedonia, ²for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and itheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For they gave jaccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴begging us earnestly kfor the favor2 of taking part in lthe relief of the saints— ⁵and this, not as we expected, but they mgave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶Accordingly, nwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you othis act of grace. ⁷But as pyou excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you3—qsee that you excel in this act of grace also.

⁸rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰And in this matter tI give my judgment: uthis benefits you, who va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. ¹¹So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. ¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. ¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴your abundance at the present time should supply xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵As it is written, y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶But zthanks be to God, awho put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷For bhe not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going4 to you of his own accord. ¹⁸With him we are sending5 cthe brother who is famous among dall the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹And not only that, but he has been eappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of fgrace that is being ministered by us, gfor the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹for hwe aim at what is honorable inot only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. ²²And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers6 of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴So give proof before the churches of your love and of kour boasting about you to these men.

Israel's Shedding of Blood

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“And you, yson of man, zwill you judge, will you judge athe bloody city? bThen declare to her all her abominations. ³You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that cher time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! ⁴You have become guilty aby the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought cyour days near, the appointed time of1 your years has come. dTherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. ⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; eyour name is defiled; fyou are full of tumult.

⁶“Behold, gthe princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. ⁷Father and mother hare treated with contempt in you; the sojourner isuffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow iare wronged in you. ⁸jYou have despised my holy things and kprofaned my Sabbaths. ⁹lThere are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you mwho eat on the mountains; nthey commit lewdness in your midst. ¹⁰In you omen uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. ¹¹pOne commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; qanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; ranother in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. ¹²In you sthey take bribes to shed blood; tyou take interest and profit2 and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but ume you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

¹³“Behold, vI strike my hand at wthe dishonest gain that you have made, and at xthe blood that has been in your midst. ¹⁴yCan your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? zI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. ¹⁵aI will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and bI will consume your uncleanness out of you. ¹⁶And cyou shall be profaned by your own doing din the sight of the nations, eand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸f“Son of man, the house of Israel has become gdross to me; all of them are hbronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are idross of silver. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, jto blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you kin my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. ²¹I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. ²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; lI have poured out my wrath upon you.”

²³And the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴“Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is mnot cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵oThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is plike a roaring lion qtearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ²⁶rHer priests shave done violence to my law and thave profaned my holy things. uThey have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and vthey have disregarded my Sabbaths, wso that I am profaned among them. ²⁷xHer princes in her midst are like wolves ytearing the prey, zshedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And aher prophets have smeared whitewash for them, bseeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land chave practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and chave extorted from the sojourner without justice. ³⁰dAnd I sought for a man among them ewho should build up the wall eand stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. ³¹Therefore fI have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned gtheir way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.

¹Save me, O God!

For uthe waters have come up to my neck.1

²I sink in deep vmire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood wsweeps over me.

³xI am weary with my crying out;

ymy throat is parched.

zMy eyes grow dim

with awaiting for my God.

⁴bMore in number than the hairs of my head

are cthose who hate me dwithout cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

ethose who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

⁵O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

⁶Let not those who hope in you fbe put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

⁷For it is gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,

that dishonor has covered my face.

⁸I have become ha stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother's sons.

⁹For izeal for your house has consumed me,

and jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

¹⁰When I wept and humbled2 my soul with fasting,

it became my reproach.

¹¹When I made ksackcloth my clothing,

I became la byword to them.

¹²I am the talk of those who msit in the gate,

and the drunkards make nsongs about me.

¹³But as for me, my oprayer is to you, O Lord.

At pan acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

¹⁴Deliver me

from sinking in qthe mire;

rlet me be delivered from my enemies

and from sthe deep waters.

¹⁵Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or tthe pit close uits mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, O Lord, for your vsteadfast love is good;

according to your abundant wmercy, xturn to me.

¹⁷yHide not your face from your servant,

zfor I am in distress; amake haste to answer me.

¹⁸Draw near to my soul, redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies!

¹⁹You know my breproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

²⁰bReproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in cdespair.

I dlooked for epity, but there was none,

and for fcomforters, but I found none.

²¹They gave me gpoison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.

²²iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;

kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3

²³lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

mand make their loins tremble continually.

²⁴Pour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

²⁵nMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

²⁶For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,

and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.

²⁷rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.4

²⁸Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.

²⁹But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!

³⁰I will vpraise the name of God with a song;

I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.

³¹This will yplease the Lord more than an ox

or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.

³²When athe humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.

³³For the Lord hears the needy

and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

³⁴Let cheaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵For dGod will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

³⁶ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.