¹So Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was concerned about Absalom. ²And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel; do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning a long time for the dead. ³Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put the words in her mouth. ⁴And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself, and said, “Help, O king!” ⁵Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?” And she answered, “Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead. ⁶Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. ⁷And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.” ⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” ⁹And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.” ¹⁰So the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.” ¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, and do not permit the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son.” And he said, “As the Lᴏʀᴅ lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.” ¹²Therefore the woman said, “Please, let your maidservant speak another word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Say on.” ¹³So the woman said: “Why then have you schemed such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again. ¹⁴For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him. ¹⁵Now therefore, I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And your maidservant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his maidservant. ¹⁶For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷Your maidservant said, ‘The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil. And may the Lᴏʀᴅ your God be with you.’ ” ¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” And the woman said, “Please, let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰To bring about this change of affairs your servant Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.” ²¹And the king said to Joab, “All right, I have granted this thing. Go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.” ²²Then Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and thanked the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.” ²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴And the king said, “Let him return to his own house, but do not let him see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not see the king’s face. ²⁵Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he cut it because it was heavy on him—when he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king’s standard. ²⁷To Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance. ²⁸And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, but did not see the king’s face. ²⁹Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. And when he sent again the second time, he would not come. ³⁰So he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. ³¹Then Joab arose and came to Absalom’s house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” ³²And Absalom answered Joab, “Look, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, so 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; but if there is iniquity in me, let him execute me.” ³³So Joab went 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. Then the king kissed Absalom.

¹Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ²Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. ³I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. ⁵For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. ⁶Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. ⁹Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. ¹²Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. ¹³Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true. ¹⁵And his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. ¹⁶Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.

¹And the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; ³and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. ⁴Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, ⁵that all flesh may know that I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.” ‘ ⁶Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. ⁷And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lᴏʀᴅ God.” ⁸Again the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ⁹“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ!’ Say: ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened And also polished! ¹⁰Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My Son, As it does all wood. ¹¹And He has given it to be polished, That it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished To be given into the hand of the slayer.’ ¹²“Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh. ¹³“Because it is a testing, And what if the sword despises even the scepter? The scepter shall be no more,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ God. ¹⁴“You therefore, son of man, prophesy, And strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, The sword that slays the great men, That enters their private chambers. ¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, That the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; It is grasped for slaughter: ¹⁶“Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left— Wherever your edge is ordered! ¹⁷“I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have spoken.” ¹⁸The word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me again, saying: ¹⁹“And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. ²⁰Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. ²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. ²²In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. ²³And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken. ²⁴“Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. ²⁵Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, ²⁶thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. ²⁷Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it to Him.” ‘ ²⁸“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, Polished for slaughter, For consuming, for flashing— ²⁹While they see false visions for you, While they divine a lie to you, To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain Whose day has come, Whose iniquity shall end. ³⁰‘Return it to its sheath. I will judge you In the place where you were created, In the land of your nativity. ³¹I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy. ³²You shall be fuel for the fire; Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall not be remembered, For I the Lᴏʀᴅ have spoken.’ ”

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song. Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him. ²As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God. ³But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. ⁴Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him. ⁵A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. ⁶God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. ⁷O God, when You went out before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah ⁸The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. ⁹You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, When it was weary. ¹⁰Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor. ¹¹The Lᴏʀᴅ gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it: ¹²“Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home divides the spoil. ¹³Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her feathers with yellow gold.” ¹⁴When the Almighty scattered kings in it, It was white as snow in Zalmon. ¹⁵A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. ¹⁶Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lᴏʀᴅ will dwell in it forever. ¹⁷The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands; The Lᴏʀᴅ is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place. ¹⁸You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lᴏʀᴅ God might dwell there. ¹⁹Blessed be the Lᴏʀᴅ, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah ²⁰Our God is the God of salvation; And to God the Lᴏʀᴅ belong escapes from death. ²¹But God will wound the head of His enemies, The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in His trespasses. ²²The Lᴏʀᴅ said, “I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, ²³That your foot may crush them in blood, And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.” ²⁴They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. ²⁵The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; Among them were the maidens playing timbrels. ²⁶Bless God in the congregations, The Lᴏʀᴅ, from the fountain of Israel. ²⁷There is little Benjamin, their leader, The princes of Judah and their company, The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali. ²⁸Your God has commanded your strength; Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us. ²⁹Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, Kings will bring presents to You. ³⁰Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in war. ³¹Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God. ³²Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lᴏʀᴅ, Selah ³³To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old! Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice. ³⁴Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, And His strength is in the clouds. ³⁵O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!