¹Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ²I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. ³Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.” ⁴And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel. ⁵Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says too.” ⁶And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up.” ⁷So Hushai said to Absalom: “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. ⁸For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not camp with the people. ⁹Surely by now he is hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will be, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹Therefore I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹²So we will come upon him in some place where he may be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one. ¹³Moreover, if he has withdrawn into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city; and we will pull it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.” ¹⁴So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the Lᴏʀᴅ had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lᴏʀᴅ might bring disaster on Absalom. ¹⁵Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have advised. ¹⁶Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, ‘Do not spend this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ” ¹⁷Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel, for they dared not be seen coming into the city; so a female servant would come and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. ¹⁸Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom. But both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down into it. ¹⁹Then the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground grain on it; and the thing was not known. ²⁰And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” So the woman said to them, “They have gone over the water brook.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. ²¹Now it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David, and said to David, “Arise and cross over the water quickly. For thus has Ahithophel advised against you.” ²²So David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By morning light not one of them was left who had not gone over the Jordan. ²³Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died; and he was buried in his father’s tomb. ²⁴Then David went to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. ²⁵And Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. This Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra, an Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. ²⁶So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. ²⁷Now it happened, when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the people of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸brought beds and basins, earthen vessels and wheat, barley and flour, parched grain and beans, lentils and parched seeds, ²⁹honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd, for David and the people who were with him to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”

¹Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. ²But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. ⁷Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. ⁸For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed— ⁹lest I seem to terrify you by letters. ¹⁰“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” ¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present. ¹²For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. ¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; ¹⁵not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, ¹⁶to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment. ¹⁷But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” ¹⁸For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

¹Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day. ³And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it. ⁴Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts; ⁵Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.” ⁶‘Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it, And whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen. ⁷For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust. ⁸That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered.” ⁹‘Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great. ¹⁰Heap on the wood, Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned up. ¹¹“Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed. ¹²She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire! ¹³In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. ¹⁴I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds They will judge you,” Says the Lᴏʀᴅ God.’ ” ¹⁵Also the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ¹⁶“Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. ¹⁷Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.” ¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?” ²⁰Then I answered them, “The word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ²¹‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. ²²And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. ²³Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. ²⁴Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ God.’ ” ²⁵‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters: ²⁶on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears; ²⁷on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ.’ ”

¹A Psalm of Solomon. Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s Son. ²He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. ³The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. ⁴He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor. ⁵They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. ⁶He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. ⁷In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. ⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. ⁹Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. ¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. ¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. ¹²For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper. ¹³He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy. ¹⁴He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight. ¹⁵And He shall live; And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, And daily He shall be praised. ¹⁶There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. ¹⁷His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. ¹⁸Blessed be the Lᴏʀᴅ God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! ¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. ²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.