Book of Common Prayer

Yahweh’s Lovingkindness Endures Forever

Yahweh’s Greatness Is Unsearchable

A Praise of David.

Aleph

Beth

Gimel

Daleth

He

Vav

Zayin

Heth

Teth

Yodh

Kaph

Lamedh

Mem

Samekh

Ayin

Pe

Tsadhe

Qoph

Resh

Shin

Tav

Absalom Calls for Hushai’s Counsel

17 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight. ^2 (A)And I will come upon him while he is weary with his hands falling limp and throw him into utter fright, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then ^(B)I will strike down the king alone, ³ and I will cause all the people to return to you. ^[a]The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at ^(C)peace.” ⁴ And the word was right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call now ^(D)Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what is also in his mouth.” ⁶ Then Hushai came to Absalom. And Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken ^[b]thus. Shall we ^[c]carry out his word? If not, you speak.” ⁷ And Hushai said to Absalom, “^(E)This time the counsel that Ahithophel has counseled is not good.” ⁸ Then Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are bitter of soul, ^(F)like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war, and will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the ^[d]caves or in another place; and it will be ^[e]when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ And even the one who is a man of valor, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, ^(G)will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are men of valor. ¹¹ But I counsel that all Israel be utterly gathered to you, ^(H)from Dan even to Beersheba, ^(I)as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that ^[f]you personally go into battle. ¹² So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will set down on him ^(J)as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall carry ropes to that city, and we will ^(K)drag it into the ^[g]valley until not even a small stone is found there.” ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For ^(L)Yahweh had ^[h]ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that Yahweh might bring calamity on Absalom.

Hushai Informs David

¹⁵ Then ^(M)Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “^[i]This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and ^[j]this is what I have counseled. ¹⁶ So now, send quickly and inform David, saying, ‘^(N)Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” ^17 (O)Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at ^(P)En-rogel, and a servant-woman would go and inform them, and they would go and inform King David, for they could not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a boy did see them and informed Absalom; so the two of them went quickly and came to the house of a man ^(Q)in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down ^[k]into it. ¹⁹ And ^(R)the woman ^[l]took a covering and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered crushed grain on it, so that nothing was known. ²⁰ Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And ^(S)the woman said to them, “They have crossed the brook of water.” And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ Now it happened after they went away, that they came up out of the well and went and informed King David; and they said to David, “^(T)Arise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you.” ²² Then David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by ^[m]dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ Now Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not ^[n]followed. So he ^[o]saddled his donkey and arose and went to his home, to ^(U)his city, and ^[p](V)set his house in order, and ^(W)strangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father.

⁶ Just as ^(A)Abraham ^(B)believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, ⁷ so know that ^(C)those who are of faith, those are ^(D)sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God ^[a]would justify the ^[b]Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^(E)All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then ^(F)those who are of faith are blessed with ^[c]Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of ^[d]the Law are under a curse, for it is written, “^(G)Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them.” ¹¹ Now that ^(H)no one is justified ^[e]by ^[f]the Law before God is evident, ^[g]for “^(I)The righteous shall live by faith.” ^12 [h]However, the Law is not ^[i]of faith; rather, “^(J)He who does them shall live ^[j]by them.” ¹³ Christ ^(K)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “^(L)Cursed is everyone who hangs on ^(M)a ^[k]tree”— ¹⁴ in order that ^(N)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^[l]come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(O)would receive ^(P)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

³⁰ “^(A)I can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge; and ^(B)My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but ^(C)the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹ “^(D)If I alone bear witness about Myself, My witness is not ^[a]true. ³² There is ^(E)another who bears witness about Me, and I know that the witness which He gives about Me is true.

Witnesses to Jesus: The Father and the Scriptures

³³ You have sent to John, and he ^(F)has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ But ^(G)the witness I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was ^(H)the lamp that was burning and shining and you ^(I)were willing to rejoice for ^[b]a while in his light. ³⁶ But the witness I have is greater than the witness of John; for ^(J)the works which the Father has given Me ^(K)to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness about Me, that the Father ^(L)has sent Me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent Me, ^(M)He has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. ³⁸ And you do not have ^(N)His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He ^(O)sent. ^39 [c](P)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is ^(Q)these that bear witness about Me; ⁴⁰ and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ^41 (R)I do not receive glory from men; ⁴² but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; ^(S)if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you ^(T)receive ^[d]glory from one another and you do not seek ^(U)the ^[e]glory that is from ^(V)the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is ^(W)Moses, in whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for ^(X)he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But ^(Y)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”