23 ^(A)“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a ^(B)malicious witness. ² You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, ^3 (C)nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

^4 (D)“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

^6 (E)“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. ^7 (F)Keep far from a false charge, and ^(G)do not kill the innocent and righteous, for ^(H)I will not acquit the wicked. ^8 (I)And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

^9 (J)“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

^10 (K)“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, ¹¹ but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

^12 (L)“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

^13 (M)“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³ And a messenger came to David, saying, ^(A)“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” ¹⁴ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ^(B)flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ^(C)ten concubines to keep the house. ¹⁷ And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

¹⁸ And ^(D)all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from ^(E)Gath, passed on before the king. ¹⁹ Then the king said to ^(F)Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go ^(G)I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show^[a] steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king, ^(H)“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, ^(I)wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” ²² And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³ And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed ^(J)the brook ^(K)Kidron, and all the people passed on toward ^(L)the wilderness.

²⁴ And ^(M)Abiathar came up, and behold, ^(N)Zadok came also with all the Levites, ^(O)bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will ^(P)bring me back and let me see both it and his ^(Q)dwelling place. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I have no ^(R)pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, ^(S)let him do to me what seems good to him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a ^(T)seer? Go back^[b] to the city in peace, with ^(U)your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, I will wait at ^(V)the fords of ^(W)the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, ^(X)barefoot and ^(Y)with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, ^(Z)weeping as they went. ³¹ And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please ^(AA)turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³² While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai ^(AB)the Archite came to meet him ^(AC)with his coat torn and ^(AD)dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^(AE)a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^(AF)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, ^(AG)tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, ^(AH)their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, ^(AI)and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai, ^(AJ)David's friend, came into the city, ^(AK)just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

Shemaiah's False Prophecy

²⁴ To ^(A)Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: ²⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^(B)Zephaniah the son of ^(C)Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have ^(D)charge in the house of the Lord ^(E)over every madman who prophesies, to put him in ^(F)the stocks and neck irons. ²⁷ Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah ^(G)of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? ²⁸ For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; ^(H)build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

^29 (I)Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ^30 (J)Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^(K)Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because ^(L)Shemaiah had prophesied to you ^(M)when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, ³² therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish ^(N)Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, ^(O)and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, ^(P)for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

God Is King over All the Earth

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

9 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not ^(A)taste death ^(B)until they see the kingdom of God after it has come ^(C)with power.”

The Transfiguration

^2 (D)And after six days Jesus took with him ^(E)Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was ^(F)transfigured before them, ³ and ^(G)his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one^[a] on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, ^(H)“Rabbi,^[b] it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(I)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For ^(J)he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And ^(K)a cloud overshadowed them, and ^(L)a voice came out of the cloud, ^(M)“This is my beloved Son;^{[c] (N)}listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(A)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(B)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (C)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(D)the law brings wrath, but ^(E)where there is no law ^(F)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(G)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(H)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(I)who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, ^(J)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(K)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(L)the things that do not exist.