2 Samuel 15 Cross References - WEB

¹ After this, Absalom prepared a chariot and horses for himself, and fifty men to run before him. ² Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate. When any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, “What city are you from?” He said, “Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.” ³ Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.” ⁴ Absalom said moreover, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!” ⁵ It was so, that when any man came near to bow down to him, he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. ⁶ Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. ⁷ At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron. ⁸ For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’” ⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose, and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’” ¹¹ Two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn’t know anything. ¹² Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. ¹³ A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.” ¹⁴ David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise! Let’s flee; or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” ¹⁶ The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. ¹⁷ The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. ¹⁸ All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. ¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. ²⁰ Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.” ²¹ Ittai answered the king, and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also.” ²² David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him. ²³ All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. ²⁴ Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down God’s ark; and Abiathar went up, until all the people finished passing out of the city. ²⁵ The king said to Zadok, “Carry God’s ark back into the city. If I find favor in Yahweh’s eyes, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation; ²⁶ but if he says, ‘I have no delight in you;’ behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seems good to him.” ²⁷ The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried God’s ark to Jerusalem again; and they stayed there. ³⁰ David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. ³¹ Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” ³² When David had come to the top, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his tunic torn, and earth on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; ³⁴ but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’ ³⁵ Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king’s house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them.” ³⁷ So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.”

¹¹ He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots.

¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

⁵ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

³³ The king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he kept in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ²⁸ The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. ²⁹ A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.

² When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

¹⁹ He who loves disobedience loves strife. One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.

¹⁴ who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself; with a cedar ceiling, and painted with red. ¹⁵ “Should you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. ¹⁶ He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so it was well, then. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh.

¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?”

¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.”

²⁶ They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

¹ Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down.

⁸ Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ The third day after I delivered, this woman delivered also. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just us two in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s child died in the night, because she lay on it. ²⁰ She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.” ²² The other woman said, “No; but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” The first one said, “No; but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” They argued like this before the king. ²³ Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead;’ and the other says, ‘No; but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.” ²⁷ Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

¹⁴ The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.

¹⁶ For they don’t sleep unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

¹ Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¹⁷ “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

³ They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”

¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.”

¹⁵ David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people.

² Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

² A good man shall obtain favor from Yahweh, but he will condemn a man of wicked plans.

¹¹ There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.

¹⁷ “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.

⁷ In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.

²¹ “In his place a contemptible person will stand up, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom; but he will come in time of security, and will obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

⁴ For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’

⁵ Paul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

¹⁷ Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

¹⁰ but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;

¹ Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ³ His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and reckless fellows who followed him. ⁵ He went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

²⁹ I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”

⁶ Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

² Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁹ promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

³³ So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

⁹ He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net. ¹⁰ The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength.

²¹ His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

²⁵ When his speech is charming, don’t believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.

⁹ With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.

¹⁸ For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

³ In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

¹ Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.” ² Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” Yahweh said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

²⁴ Absalom came to the king, and said, “See now, your servant has sheep shearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” ²⁵ The king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let’s not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him; however he would not go, but blessed him. ²⁶ Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷ But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

³⁸ So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination— how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

⁴ Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”

¹³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

²⁰ Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God,

¹⁵ If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

¹¹ She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”

² Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” Yahweh said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.

³⁷ But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, king of Geshur. David mourned for his son every day. ³⁸ So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

²³ So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

³² Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”’”

¹² Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.

⁴ When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.

¹⁵ “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’”

³ “They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood. They have grown strong in the land, but not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh. ⁴ “Everyone beware of his neighbor, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go around like a slanderer. ⁵ Friends deceive each other, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves commiting iniquity.

²⁰ For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’

¹ After this, David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.”

¹¹ The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

² Sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; ³ and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

²⁸ Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant!”

³⁰ Therefore he said to his servants, “Behold, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

¹⁰ Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why don’t you speak a word of bringing the king back?”

³⁴ Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel. Blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live king Solomon!’

¹³ Then they hurried, and each man took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.”

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to Yahweh’s word by Samuel.

²³ These are the numbers of the heads of those who were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to Yahweh’s word.

³⁸ All these were men of war, who could order the battle array, and came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

⁵ that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment? ⁶ Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, ⁷ yet he will perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ ⁸ He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found. Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. ⁹ The eye which saw him will see him no more, neither will his place see him any more. ¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor. His hands will give back his wealth. ¹¹ His bones are full of his youth, but youth will lie down with him in the dust. ¹² “Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, ¹³ though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth; ¹⁴ yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him. ¹⁵ He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶ He will suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue will kill him. ¹⁷ He will not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter. ¹⁸ He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down. He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten. ¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up. ²⁰ “Because he knew no quietness within him, he will not save anything of that in which he delights. ²¹ There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity will not endure. ²² In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him. ²³ When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating. ²⁴ He will flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow will strike him through. ²⁵ He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him. ²⁶ All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume that which is left in his tent. ²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will rise up against him. ²⁸ The increase of his house will depart. They will rush away in the day of his wrath. ²⁹ This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God.”

¹⁸ Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. ¹⁹ How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

⁵ Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

¹³ As soon as you have come into the city, you will immediately find him before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you will find him.”

³ Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.” ⁴ Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” ⁵ He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

¹⁵ Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me! Don’t let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more.”

¹⁵ A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.

³ A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

¹⁸ For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent. ¹⁹ For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.

¹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

¹⁴ He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

³⁰ Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages.

³¹ Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel what we shall do.” ²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” ²² So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. ²³ The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel both was like this with David and with Absalom.

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

¹² They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

³³ Ahithophel was the king’s counselor. Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.

¹ A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son. Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. ² Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.

⁹ Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹ Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men. ² For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips, ¹⁷ since you hate instruction, and throw my words behind you? ¹⁸ When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers. ¹⁹ “You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother’s son. ²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

¹² For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. ¹³ But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. ¹⁴ We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.

¹⁰ Hear Yahweh’s word, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! ¹¹ “What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts? ¹³ Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t stand evil assemblies. ¹⁴ My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

⁵ Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth! ⁶ For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

¹⁸ I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’

¹⁶ They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

³ His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.”

³⁶ All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; as whatever the king did pleased all the people.

⁶ Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁹ Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.

⁹ The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!”

⁹ All the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

¹⁶ The three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh. ¹⁷ He said, “Be it far from me, Yahweh, that I should do this! Isn’t this the blood of the men who risked their lives to go?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

¹ A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son. Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. ² Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah. ³ But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. ⁴ I cry to Yahweh with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah. ⁵ I laid myself down and slept. I awakened; for Yahweh sustains me. ⁶ I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side. ⁷ Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked. ⁸ Salvation belongs to Yahweh. May your blessing be on your people. Selah.

¹⁸ Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

³ because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me. ⁴ My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. ⁵ Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me. ⁶ I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. ⁷ Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah. ⁸ “I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.” ⁹ Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. ¹⁰ Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her. ¹¹ Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. ⁶ Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

¹⁸ Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.”’”

¹² From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

¹⁵ You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

²⁴ A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

²⁸ But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. ²⁹ I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me,

⁶⁶ At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. ⁶⁷ Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁴ You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

¹⁰ Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him.

²⁷ Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

⁴² Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” ²² So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

³ David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody, and provided them with sustenance, but didn’t go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

¹ A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son. Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me.

² Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

¹² You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.

⁷ I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the earth.

³ David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.

¹⁴ We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁰ So David would not move Yahweh’s ark to be with him in David’s city; but David carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house.

¹⁸ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were chief ministers.

¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. ²⁰ Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.” ²¹ Ittai answered the king, and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also.” ²² David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him.

² David sent the people out, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the people, “I will also surely go out with you myself.”

⁷ Joab’s men went out after him, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

²³ Now Joab was over all the army of Israel, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites,

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.

¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief officials serving the king.

¹¹ Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? ¹² Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, ¹³ would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for Yahweh’s hand has gone out against me.”

¹³ Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. Saul was told that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.

⁶ Now may Yahweh show loving kindness and truth to you. I also will reward you for this kindness, because you have done this thing.

¹⁰ All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

⁸ You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?

³ He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.

¹⁵ They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.

⁷ He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

¹⁰ Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.

²² Don’t they go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.

¹² They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word, and will not find it.

¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, ¹⁷ but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me ¹⁸ (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.

³⁷ They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

¹⁶ Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”

³ David swore moreover, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, ‘Don’t let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved;’ but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

² Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

⁶ Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on.

³⁰ The child’s mother said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose, and followed her.

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁹ A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

²³ who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord.

¹³ Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

³ I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.

² The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys 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 those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.”

³⁷ For on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head.”

¹³ He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁶ The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron.

¹ In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

³ For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make the way of the Lord ready! Make his paths straight!”

⁸⁰ The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

¹⁵ “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders.

³ and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, and the Levitical priests bearing it, then leave your place and follow it.

⁶ Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over before the people.” They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

¹⁵ and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, that they come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan!” ¹⁸ When the priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.

⁴ Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁶ Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh’s ark.”

³ When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵ When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

¹¹ God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

²⁰ One of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.

¹³ When those who bore Yahweh’s ark had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

¹⁷ Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, Seraiah was scribe,

²⁷ The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

³⁵ Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king’s house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

²⁵ Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests,

⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

² These were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁸ Ahitub became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Ahimaaz. ⁹ Ahimaaz became the father of Azariah. Azariah became the father of Johanan. ¹⁰ Johanan became the father of Azariah, who executed the priest’s office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. ¹¹ Azariah became the father of Amariah. Amariah became the father of Ahitub. ¹² Ahitub became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Shallum.

² Then David said, “No one ought to carry God’s ark but the Levites. For Yahweh has chosen them to carry God’s ark, and to minister to him forever.”

¹¹ It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

¹³ “You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.

³ When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵ When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶ When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” They understood that Yahweh’s ark had come into the camp. ⁷ The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!” ¹⁰ The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter; for thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell. ¹¹ God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹⁷ They brought in Yahweh’s ark, and set it in its place, in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.

² the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but God’s ark dwells within curtains.”

¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ ¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

⁸ Yahweh, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.

⁴ One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple. ⁵ For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.

¹ For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

³ Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your tents. ⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.

¹ A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water. ² So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.

¹ For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies! ² My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. ³ Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God.

¹⁰ For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

¹ A Song of Ascents. By David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let’s go to Yahweh’s house!”

⁹ For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.

²² Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to Yahweh’s house?”

⁴ Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’

³⁰ “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and tell them, “‘Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He will mightily roar against his fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

⁸ If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey.

¹⁵ The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.”

¹⁸ Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, “It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him.”

²⁰ He also brought me out into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

⁹ Blessed is Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

⁸ Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God; because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

²⁰ Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped. ²¹ He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”

⁹ I was mute. I didn’t open my mouth, because you did it.

¹ “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.

⁴ You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married.

²⁸ Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which no one delights? Why are they cast out, he and his offspring, and cast into a land which they don’t know?

⁴¹ Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”

¹⁰ Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.

⁹ (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come! Let’s go to the seer;” for he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer.)

³⁴ but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’

³⁶ Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them.”

¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David. For they might not be seen to come into the city.

¹¹ When David rose up in the morning, Yahweh’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

²³ All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

¹ Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.

¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’”

⁴ The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!”

¹² Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

³ My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

⁵ Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.

⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.

² at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your sandals from off your feet.” He did so, walking naked and barefoot. ³ Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia, ⁴ so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

³ Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads. ⁴ Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed. They cover their heads.

¹⁷ Sigh, but not aloud. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind your headdress on you, and put your sandals on your feet. Don’t cover your lips, and don’t eat mourner’s bread.”

²³ Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You won’t mourn or weep; but you will pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.

⁴ His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

²⁹ When he came near to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,

³⁷ As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,

⁴¹ When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,

³⁷ Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.

³⁹ He came out and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him.

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

²⁶ When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

¹² Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

²³ The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel both was like this with David and with Absalom.

¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.

¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools. ¹⁸ He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt. ¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰ He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.

¹² For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.

¹⁴ We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company. ¹⁵ Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.

³ They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.

³ The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.

¹¹ The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” ¹² Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes. ¹⁴ Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. ¹⁵ Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. ¹⁶ In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Yahweh of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them. ¹⁷ The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of Yahweh of Armies, which he determines against it. ¹⁸ In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of Armies. One will be called “The city of destruction.” ¹⁹ In that day, there will be an altar to Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh at its border. ²⁰ It will be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. ²¹ Yahweh will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Yahweh, and will perform it. ²² Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated by them, and will heal them. ²³ In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. ²⁴ In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; ²⁵ because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

⁸ “‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie. ⁹ The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.

²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰ And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”

¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.

² It went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth;

² on the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn, and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the earth, and showed respect.

¹⁹ Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.

³⁰ David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

¹⁶ When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?” ¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will stay with him. ¹⁹ Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”

⁴⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.

³ But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. ⁴ I cry to Yahweh with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah. ⁵ I laid myself down and slept. I awakened; for Yahweh sustains me.

⁷ Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.

¹ For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David. Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. ² You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. ³ But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly: Yahweh will hear when I call to him.

¹⁵ Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.

³⁵ I am eighty years old, today. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear the voice of singing men and singing women any more? Why then should your servant be a burden to my lord the king?

² You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

²⁰ Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let’s hear likewise what he says.” ⁶ When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.” ⁷ Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. ⁹ Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’ ¹⁰ Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. ¹² So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. ¹³ Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.” ¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. ¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. ¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’”

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me now run and carry the king news, how Yahweh has avenged him of his enemies.” ²⁰ Joab said to him, “You must not be the bearer of news today, but you must carry news another day. But today you must carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen!” The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran. ²² Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, “But come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab said, “Why do you want to run, my son, since you will have no reward for the news?” ²³ “But come what may,” he said, “I will run.” He said to him, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite. ²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” He came closer and closer. ²⁶ The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper, and said, “Behold, a man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” ²⁷ The watchman said, “I think the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good news.” ²⁸ Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, “All is well.” He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, “Blessed is Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king!” ²⁹ The king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, even me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I don’t know what it was.” ³⁰ The king said, “Come and stand here.” He came, and stood still. ³¹ Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.” ³² The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you harm, be as that young man is.” ³³ The king was much moved, and went up to the room over the gate, and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died for you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

¹⁵ Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. ¹⁶ When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”