Old/New Testament
Chapter 14
1 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, ascertained that the king, in his heart, longed for Absalom, 2 so he sent to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her: “Pretend to be a mourner. Dress yourself in mourning garments and do not anoint yourself with oil. Simply pretend to be a woman who has been grieving for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him as I instruct you.” After that, Joab told her what she was to say.
4 When the woman of Tekoa approached the king, she fell prostrate to the ground in homage and said: “Please help me, O king.” 5 The king asked: “What can I do for you?” She replied: “As you can see I am a widow. My husband is dead. 6 Your servant had two sons, and they fought with one another in the field. There was no one around to separate them, and one of them struck the other and killed him.
7 “Now the entire family has risen against your servant and demanded: ‘Give up the man who killed his brother, so that we can put him to death to atone for the life of the brother whom he killed. Thus we shall get rid of the heir as well.’ Should they do this, they will extinguish my one remaining ember and leave my husband neither name nor posterity on the face of the earth.” 8 The king said to the woman: “Return home. I myself shall issue orders on your behalf.”
9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king: “My lord, let the guilt be on me and on my father’s house. The king and his throne will be without guilt.” 10 The king replied: “If anyone says something further that is threatening to you, have him brought to me, and he will never trouble you again.” 11 [a]Then she said: “May the king keep the Lord, your God, in mind so that the avenger of blood will be prevented from killing any further and my son will not be destroyed.” The king swore: “As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”
12 The woman continued further; “Please permit your servant to speak a further word to my lord the king.” He replied: “Speak.” 13 She said: “In pronouncing this verdict, has not the king condemned himself by devising something like this against the people of God, since you have refused to bring back your banished son? 14 We all must die. We are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. However, God does not take away a life. Rather, he devises ways that will enable us to avoid being estranged forever from him.
15 “I have dared to speak in this way to your majesty because the people have intimidated me. I thought: ‘Perhaps if I can speak to the king, he will grant the request of his servant. 16 He will surely listen to me and deliver his servant from the hands of those who seek to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’ 17 And I further thought: ‘Perhaps the word of my lord the king will restore my peace of mind, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning between good and evil.’ May the Lord, your God, be with you.”
18 Then in reply the king said to the woman: “Do not be evasive in replying to the question I will now ask you.” The woman answered: “Let my lord the king present his question.” 19 Then the king asked: “Is not the hand of Joab behind you in all this?” The woman asserted: “As you live, my lord the king, no one can avoid being completely truthful in responding to what you ask. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me and taught your servant all the things she was to say. 20 Your servant Joab did this to present the situation in a different light. But my lord has the wisdom of an angel of God and is fully aware of everything that happens in the land.”
21 Absalom’s Return. Then the king said to Joab: “Very well. I grant this request. Go forth and bring back the young man Absalom.” 22 Then Joab fell prostrate to the ground in homage and blessed the king, saying: “My lord the king, today your servant knows that I have found favor with you, since the king has granted his servant’s request.”
23 Then Joab set out immediately for Geshur and brought back Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 But the king said: “Let him go to his own house. He shall not come into my presence.” Therefore, Absalom went to his own house and was not received by the king.
25 In all Israel there was no one who was so highly praised for his beauty as Absalom, who did not have a single blemish from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. 26 When he would cut the hair of his head—something he used to do at the close of every year because his hair became too heavy for him—the hair weighed two hundred shekels according to the royal standard. 27 To Absalom three sons were born, and also one daughter whose name was Tamar and who was truly beautiful.[b]
28 Absalom Is Pardoned. Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without coming into the king’s presence. 29 Then Absalom summoned Joab, wishing to send him with a message to the king, but Joab refused to come. He then sent for him a second time, but Joab still refused to come. 30 Then Absalom instructed his servants: “Joab’s field adjoins mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” Therefore, Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
31 Then Joab went to Absalom’s house and asked him: “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” 32 Absalom replied: “I sent word to you to come here so that I could send you to the king to give him this message from me: ‘Why did you summon me to come back from Geshur. I believe that I would be better off if I were still there. Let me now appear before the king. If I am guilty of anything, let him kill me.’ ”
33 Joab then went before the king and reported this to him. Thereupon the king summoned Absalom, who came and prostrated himself before him, with his face to the ground. Then the king welcomed Absalom with a kiss.
Chapter 15
Absalom’s Plot. 1 After this, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run on ahead of him. 2 Absalom was accustomed to arise early and stand by the side of the road that led to the city gate. If someone had a lawsuit to bring before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and ask him: “Which town do you come from?” and that person would answer: “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”
3 Then Absalom would reply: “Your petition may be clearly valid and just, but there is no one who is authorized by the king to hear you.” 4 He would further add: “If only I were appointed as judge in the land, then everyone who has a lawsuit or a claim to be arbitrated could come to me, and I would ensure that he would have his case judged fairly.”
5 Moreover, whenever a man came before him and prostrated himself, Absalom would stretch out his hand, embrace him, and kiss him. 6 By behaving in such a manner to every Israelite who approached the king to seek justice, Absalom captured the affectionate loyalty of the people.
Conspiracy in Hebron. 7 After a period of four years had elapsed, Absalom said to the king: “Please allow me to go to Hebron so that I may fulfill the vow that I have made to the Lord. 8 For while I lived at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, then I shall worship the Lord in Hebron.’ ” 9 The king replied: “Depart in peace.” Therefore, Absalom arose and went to Hebron.
10 Then Absalom sent messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel with this message: “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron.’ ”
11 Two hundred men had accompanied Absalom from Jerusalem. They had been invited as guests and had gone with him in complete innocence, totally unaware of what was going on. 12 Absalom also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, who was David’s counselor, and asked him to come from his town of Giloh to join him in offering the sacrifices. Thus the conspiracy grew in strength, and Absalom’s supporters continued to increase in numbers.
13 David Flees from Jerusalem. A messenger came to David with this report: “The men of Israel have transferred their allegiance to Absalom.” 14 Upon hearing this, David said to all of his officials who were with him in Jerusalem: “Get ready to depart! If we do not flee, then none of us will be able to escape from Absalom. Depart as quickly as you can, or he will soon overtake us and inflict disaster upon us and put the city to the sword.”[c]
15 The king’s officials then replied: “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are prepared to follow your commands.” 16 Then the king set forth, followed by his entire household, aside from ten concubines whom he left behind to take care of the palace.
17 As the king moved on, followed by all the people, he halted at the last house, with the officials at his side. 18 As he watched, all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all of the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath passed on before him.
19 David and Ittai. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite: “Why should you also come with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. For you are a foreigner, and in addition you are also an exile from your own country. 20 You arrived only yesterday. How can I ask you to wander about with us today when truly I do not know where I am going? Go back home, therefore, and take your countrymen with you, and may the Lord grant you his kindness and his faithful love.”
21 However, Ittai replied to the king: “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there your servant will also be.”
22 David then said to Ittai: “Go ahead, then, and march on!” Therefore, Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him. 23 Everyone in the countryside wept aloud as the king and all the people crossed the Wadi Kidron and moved on toward the desert wilderness.[d]
24 David and the Priests. Zadok was also there, as well as all the Levites with him, as they carried the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God beside Abiathar until all those who were with them had marched out of the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok: “Take the Ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and permit me to see both the Ark and the place where it dwells. 26 But if he says: ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then here I am. Let him do with me as he sees fit.”
27 The king also said to Zadok the priest: “Aren’t you a seer? You and Abiathar can return safely into the city with your sons, your own son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. 28 I shall wait at the fords of the wilderness until I receive word from you.” 29 Therefore, Zadok and Abiathar took the Ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.
30 David then ascended to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot. All the people with him also covered their heads and wept as they went. 31 When it was revealed to David that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom, he said: “O Lord, I beg you to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into folly.”
32 David and Hushai. When David arrived at the summit where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite came forth to meet him with his tunic torn and with dirt upon his head. 33 David said to him: “If you come with me, you will only be a burden to me. 34 However, if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I was formerly your father’s servant, now I will be your servant,’ you will make it possible for me to frustrate the advice of Ahithophel.
35 “The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with you there. Report to them everything that you hear in the royal palace. 36 Their two sons are there with them: Zadok’s son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Through them you shall send word to me of everything you hear.”
37 So David’s friend Hushai came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.
Various Episodes and Instructions
Chapter 17
Warning against Giving Scandal.[a] 1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Scandals are bound to occur, but woe to the man through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were fastened around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Be on your guard!
The Need To Forgive.[b] “If your brother should sin, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he wrongs you seven times a day, and comes back to you seven times to say, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him.”
Faith Knows How To Make Miracles.[c] 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Unprofitable Servants.[d] 7 “Which of you, when your servant returns from plowing or tending sheep in the fields, would say to him, ‘Come right away and sit down to eat’? 8 Would you not rather say, ‘Prepare my dinner, put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink, and then afterward you yourself may eat and drink’? 9 Would you be grateful to that servant for doing what he was commanded? 10 So should it be with you. When you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”
11 Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy.[e] As he continued on his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 When he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Standing some distance away, 13 they called out to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he realized that he had been cured, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten made clean? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one except this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19 Then he said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”
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