Contributions for the Sanctuary

25 The Lord said to Moses, ^2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From ^(B)every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. ³ And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ^4 (C)blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, ⁵ tanned ^(D)rams' skins, goatskins,^[a] acacia wood, ^6 (E)oil for the lamps, ^(F)spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ^(G)ephod and for the breastpiece. ⁸ And let them make me a ^(H)sanctuary, that ^(I)I may dwell in their midst. ^9 (J)Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the ^(K)tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

Absalom Killed

18 Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of ^(A)Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” ^3 (B)But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” ⁴ The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵ And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” ^(C)And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

⁶ So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the ^(D)forest of Ephraim. ⁷ And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

⁹ And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak,^{[a] (E)}and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. ¹⁰ And a certain man saw it and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” ¹¹ Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” ¹² But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king's son, for ^(F)in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’ ¹³ On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life^[b] (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” ¹⁴ Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. ¹⁵ And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

¹⁶ Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. ¹⁷ And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him ^(G)a very great heap of stones. And all Israel ^(H)fled every one to his own home. ¹⁸ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself ^(I)the pillar that is in ^(J)the King's Valley, for he said, ^(K)“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument^[c] to this day.

²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^(U)when I restore their fortunes:

^24 (Y)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^(Z)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. ²⁵ For I will ^(AA)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

²⁶ At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

^27 (AB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(AC)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^(AD)the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸ And it shall come to pass that ^(AE)as I have watched over them ^(AF)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^(AG)so I will watch over them ^(AH)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. ²⁹ In those days they shall no longer say:

^30 (AJ)But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

^30 (A)They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, ^(B)after three days he will rise.” ^32 (C)But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

³³ And ^(D)they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house ^(E)he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(F)they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ^(G)“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and ^(H)taking him in his arms, he said to them, ^37 (I)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and ^(J)whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as ^(A)sin came into the world through one man, and ^(B)death through sin, and ^(C)so death spread to all men^[a] because ^(D)all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^(E)sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^(F)like the transgression of Adam, ^(G)who was a type of ^(H)the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^(I)many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For ^(J)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^(K)justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^(L)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass^[b] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness^[c] leads to justification and life for ^(M)all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man's ^(N)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's ^(O)obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now ^(P)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^(Q)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, ^(R)as sin reigned in death, ^(S)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.