2 Samuel 18:1-6

New King James Version

Absalom’s Defeat and Death

18 And David ^[a]numbered the people who were with him, and ^(A)set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. ²Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, ^(B)one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of ^(C)Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.”

³^(D)But the people answered, “You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.”

⁴Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” ^(E)And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom.

⁶So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the ^(F)woods of Ephraim.

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Footnotes

2 Samuel 18:1 Lit. attended to

Psalm 25

New King James Version

A Plea for Deliverance and Forgiveness

A Psalm of David.

25 To ^(A)You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
²O my God, I ^(B)trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
^(C)Let not my enemies triumph over me.
³Indeed, let no one who ^[a]waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

⁴^(D)Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
⁵Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

⁶Remember, O Lord, ^(E)Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
⁷Do not remember ^(F)the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
^(G)According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

⁸Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
⁹The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
¹⁰All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
¹¹^(H)For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

¹²Who is the man that fears the Lord?
^(I)Him shall ^[b]He teach in the way He chooses.
¹³^(J)He himself shall dwell in ^[c]prosperity,
And ^(K)his descendants shall inherit the earth.
¹⁴^(L)The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
¹⁵^(M)My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall ^[d]pluck my feet out of the net.

¹⁶^(N)Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am ^[e]desolate and afflicted.
¹⁷The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
¹⁸^(O)Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
¹⁹Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with ^[f]cruel hatred.
²⁰Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.

²²^(P)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!

Footnotes

Psalm 25:3 Waits for You in faith
Psalm 25:12 Or he
Psalm 25:13 Lit. goodness
Psalm 25:15 Lit. bring out
Psalm 25:16 lonely
Psalm 25:19 violent hatred

Psalm 71

New King James Version

God the Rock of Salvation

71 In ^(A)You, O Lord, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
²^(B)Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
^(C)Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
³^(D)Be my ^[a]strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the ^(E)commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴^(F)Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
⁵For You are ^(G)my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth.
⁶^(H)By You I have been ^[b]upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

⁷^(I)I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
⁸Let ^(J)my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.

⁹Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
¹⁰For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life ^(K)take counsel together,
¹¹Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²^(L)O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, ^(M)make haste to help me!
¹³Let them be ^[c]confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.

¹⁴But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
¹⁵My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
¹⁶I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

¹⁷O God, You have taught me from my ^(N)youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
¹⁸Now also ^(O)when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.

¹⁹Also ^(P)Your righteousness, O God, is ^[d]very high,
You who have done great things;
^(Q)O God, who is like You?
²⁰^(R)You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
^(S)Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
²¹You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.

²²Also ^(T)with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O ^(U)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And ^(V)my soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.

Footnotes

Psalm 71:3 Lit. rock of refuge or rock of habitation
Psalm 71:6 sustained from the womb
Psalm 71:13 ashamed
Psalm 71:19 great, lit. to the height of heaven

2 Samuel 18:7-19:8

New King James Version

⁷The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day. ⁸For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and ^(A)his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on. ¹⁰Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!”

¹¹So Joab said to the man who told him, “You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”

¹²But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. ^(B)For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ^[a]‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’ ¹³Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”

¹⁴Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. ¹⁵And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.

¹⁶So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people. ¹⁷And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and ^(C)laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel ^(D)fled, everyone to his tent.

¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a ^[b]pillar for himself, which is in ^(E)the King’s Valley. For he said, ^(F)“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

David Hears of Absalom’s Death

¹⁹Then ^(G)Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has ^[c]avenged him of his enemies.”

²⁰And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall take no news, because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.

²²And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But ^[d]whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.”

So Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”

²³“But whatever happens,” he said, “let me run.”

So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the ^(H)two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone. ²⁵Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came rapidly and drew near.

²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another man, running alone!”

And the king said, “He also brings news.”

²⁷So the watchman said, ^[e]“I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.”

And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with ^(I)good news.”

²⁸So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, ^[f]“All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, and said, ^(J)“Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”

²⁹The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.”

³⁰And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

³¹Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my lord the king! For the Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”

³²And the king said to the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

So the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!”

David’s Mourning for Absalom

³³Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: ^(K)“O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, ^(L)my son!”

David Returns to Jerusalem

19 And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and ^(M)mourning for Absalom.” ²So the victory that day was turned into ^(N)mourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” ³And the people ^[g]stole back ^(O)into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴But the king ^(P)covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, ^(Q)“O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then ^(R)Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines, ⁶in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you ^[h]regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well. ⁷Now therefore, arise, go out and speak ^[i]comfort to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night. And that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.” ⁸Then the king arose and sat in the ^(S)gate. And they told all the people, saying, “There is the king, sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king.