David in His Old Age

¹Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. ²Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms,1 that my lord the king may be warm.” ³So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the aShunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

⁵Now bAdonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” cAnd he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, dand he was born next after Absalom. ⁷He conferred with eJoab the son of Zeruiah and with fAbiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. ⁸But fZadok the priest and gBenaiah the son of Jehoiada and hNathan the prophet and iShimei and Rei and jDavid's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside kEn-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, ¹⁰but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or lSolomon his brother.

Nathan and Bathsheba Before David

¹¹Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that bAdonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? ¹²Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, m“Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ ¹⁴Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm2 your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). ¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?” ¹⁷She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, m‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. ¹⁹nHe has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, fAbiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but lSolomon your servant he has not invited. ²⁰And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king osleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

²²While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground. ²⁴And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ²⁵For he has gone down this day and nhas sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders3 of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, p‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶qBut me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited. ²⁷Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

Solomon Anointed King

²⁸Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. ²⁹And the king swore, saying, r“As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, ³⁰sas I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.” ³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, t“May my lord King David live forever!”

³²King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. ³³And the king said to them, “Take with you uthe servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to vGihon. ³⁴And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there wanoint him king over Israel. xThen blow the trumpet and say, y‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” ³⁶And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so. ³⁷zAs the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, aand make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, band the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. ³⁹There Zadok the priest took the horn of coil from the tent and danointed Solomon. xThen they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, y“Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?” ⁴²While he was still speaking, behold, eJonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, ffor you are a worthy man and bring good news.” ⁴³Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king, ⁴⁴and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the bCherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule. ⁴⁵And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at vGihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶gSolomon sits on the royal throne. ⁴⁷Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, h‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king ibowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, jwho has granted someone4 to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’”

⁴⁹Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. ⁵⁰And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went kand took hold of lthe horns of the altar. ⁵¹Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” ⁵²And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, mnot one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” ⁵³So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Christ Has Set Us Free

¹For sfreedom Christ has tset us free; ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to va yoke of wslavery.

²Look: I, Paul, say to you that xif you accept circumcision, yChrist will be of no advantage to you. ³I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that zhe is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴You are asevered from Christ, byou who would be justified1 by the law; cyou have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly dwait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus eneither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but fonly faith working through love.

⁷gYou were running well. Who hindered you from obeying hthe truth? ⁸This persuasion is not from ihim who calls you. ⁹jA little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰kI have confidence in the Lord that you will ltake no other view, and mthe one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹But if I, brothers,2 still preach3 circumcision, nwhy am I still being persecuted? In that case othe offense of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish pthose who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. qOnly do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love rserve one another. ¹⁴For sthe whole law is fulfilled in one word: t“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you ubite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

¹⁶But I say, vwalk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify wthe desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For xthe desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, yto keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are zled by the Spirit, ayou are not under the law. ¹⁹Now bthe works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, cdivisions, ²¹envy,4 drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that dthose who do5 such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But ethe fruit of the Spirit is flove, joy, peace, patience, gkindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³hgentleness, iself-control; jagainst such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus khave crucified the flesh with its lpassions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, mlet us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶nLet us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

¹eIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²f“Son of man, graise a lamentation over hPharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself ia lion of the nations,

but you are like ja dragon kin the seas;

lyou burst forth in your rivers,

trouble the waters with your feet,

and foul their rivers.

³Thus says the Lord God:

mI will throw my net over you

with a host of nmany peoples,

and othey will haul you up in my dragnet.

⁴And pI will cast you on the ground;

on the open field I will fling you,

and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,

and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.

⁵I will strew your flesh qupon the mountains

and fill the valleys with your carcass.1

⁶I will drench the land even to the mountains

with your flowing blood,

and the ravines will be full of you.

⁷rWhen I blot you out, sI will cover the heavens

and make their stars dark;

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon shall not give its light.

⁸All the bright lights of heaven

will I make dark over you,

and tput darkness on your land,

declares the Lord God.

⁹“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. ¹⁰uI will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when vI brandish my sword before them. wThey shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

¹¹“For thus says the Lord God: xThe sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹²I will cause yyour multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them zmost ruthless of nations.

a“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,

and all its multitude2 shall perish.

¹³I will destroy all its beasts

from beside many waters;

band no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,

nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

¹⁴Then cI will make their waters clear,

and cause their rivers to run like oil,

declares the Lord God.

¹⁵When I make the land of Egypt desolate,

and when the land dis desolate of all that fills it,

when I strike down all who dwell in it,

then ethey will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶fThis is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over gall her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

¹⁷hIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,3 on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸i“Son of man, jwail over gthe multitude of Egypt, and ksend them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, lto the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

¹⁹m‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?

Go down and nbe laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’

²⁰They shall fall amid those owho are slain by the sword. Egypt4 is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and pall her multitudes. ²¹The mighty chiefs qshall speak of them, rwith their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, sthe uncircumcised, oslain by the sword.’

²²t“Assyria is there, and all her company, uits graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ²³whose graves are set in vthe uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, wwho spread terror xin the land of the living.

²⁴y“Elam is zthere, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them aslain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into bthe world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and cthey bear their shame bwith those who go down to the pit. ²⁵dThey have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

²⁶f“Meshech-Tubal is ethere, and all her multitude, eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷And gthey do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. ²⁸But as for you, you shall be broken hand lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

²⁹i“Edom is jthere, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰“The princes kof the north are there, all of them, and all the lSidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, mfor all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and nbear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹“When Pharaoh sees them, he owill be comforted for pall his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. ³²qFor I spread terror rin the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among sthe uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.

¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.

You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.

²Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,

lstir up your might

and mcome to save us!

³nRestore us,1 O God;

olet your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴O pLord God of hosts,

qhow long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

⁵You have fed them with rthe bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

⁶sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,

and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷nRestore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁸You brought ta vine out of Egypt;

you udrove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You vcleared the ground for it;

it took deep root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹It sent out its branches to wthe sea

and its shoots to wthe River.2

¹²Why then have you xbroken down its walls,

so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

¹³yThe boar from the forest ravages it,

and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts!

zLook down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

¹⁵the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;

may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!

¹⁷But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

¹⁸Then we shall not turn back from you;

dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!

¹⁹eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved!