¹After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ²Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” ³Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.” ⁴Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” ⁵And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him. ⁶In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. ⁷Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁸For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lᴏʀᴅ indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lᴏʀᴅ.’ ” ⁹And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰Then 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 reigns in Hebron!’ ” ¹¹And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything. ¹²Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city—from Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number. ¹³Now a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” ¹⁴So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee; or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands.” ¹⁶Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house. ¹⁷And the king went out with all the people after him, and stopped at the outskirts. ¹⁸Then all his servants passed before him; and all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath, passed before the king. ¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. ²⁰In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go I know not where? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you.” ²¹And Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lᴏʀᴅ lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” ²²So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. ²³And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness. ²⁴There was Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. ²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lᴏʀᴅ, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. ²⁶But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” ²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸See, I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there. ³⁰So 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. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up. ³¹Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lᴏʀᴅ, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” ³²Now it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain, where he worshiped God—there was Hushai the Archite coming to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. ³³David said to him, “If you go on with me, then you will become a burden to me. ³⁴But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I was your father’s servant previously, so I will now also be your servant,’ then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me. ³⁵And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Therefore it will be that whatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall tell to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶Indeed they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send me everything you hear.” ³⁷So Hushai, David’s friend, went into the city. And Absalom came into Jerusalem.

¹Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: ²that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. ³For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. ⁵And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. ⁶So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. ⁷But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. ⁸I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. ¹⁰And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; ¹¹but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. ¹²For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. ¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; ¹⁴but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. ¹⁵As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” ¹⁶But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. ¹⁷For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. ¹⁸And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, ¹⁹and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, ²⁰avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us— ²¹providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²²And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you. ²³If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴Therefore show to them, and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.

¹Moreover the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²“Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! ³Then say, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. ⁴You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. ⁵Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult. ⁶“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. ⁷In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. ⁸You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. ¹⁰In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. ¹¹One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹²In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ God. ¹³“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. ¹⁴Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have spoken, and will do it. ¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. ¹⁶You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ.” ‘ ” ¹⁷The word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. ²¹Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. ²²As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have poured out My fury on you.’ ” ²³And the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²⁴“Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ ²⁵The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ²⁶Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. ²⁸Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God,’ when the Lᴏʀᴅ had not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. ³⁰So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ God.

¹To the Chief Musician. Set the ‘The Lilies.’ A Psalm of David. Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. ²I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. ³I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. ⁴Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. ⁵O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. ⁶Let not those who wait for You, O Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. ⁷Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face. ⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother’s children; ⁹Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. ¹⁰When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach. ¹¹I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. ¹²Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. ¹³But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation. ¹⁴Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. ¹⁵Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me. ¹⁶Hear me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. ¹⁷And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily. ¹⁸Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies. ¹⁹You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You. ²⁰Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none. ²¹They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. ²²Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap. ²³Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually. ²⁴Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them. ²⁵Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents. ²⁶For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded. ²⁷Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness. ²⁸Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous. ²⁹But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. ³⁰I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. ³¹This also shall please the Lᴏʀᴅ better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves. ³²The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. ³³For the Lᴏʀᴅ hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners. ³⁴Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. ³⁵For God will save Zion And build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it. ³⁶Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name shall dwell in it.