^12 (A)Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and ^(B)relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you ^(C)swore by your own self, and said to them, ^(D)‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴ And the Lord ^(E)relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

¹⁵ Then ^(F)Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the ^(G)two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. ^16 (H)The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷ When ^(I)Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” ¹⁸ But he said, “It is not the sound of ^(J)shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” ¹⁹ And as soon as he came near the camp and ^(K)saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, ^(L)“What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” ²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. ^(M)You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For ^(N)they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ So ^(O)I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, ^(P)to the derision of their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you ^(Q)kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” ²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. ²⁹ And Moses said, “Today you have been ^(R)ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, ^(S)“You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; ^(T)perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, ^(U)this people has sinned a great sin. They have ^(V)made for themselves gods of gold. ³² But now, if ^(W)you will forgive their sin—but if not, please ^(X)blot me out of ^(Y)your book that you have written.” ³³ But the Lord said to Moses, ^(Z)“Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. ^34 (AA)But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; ^(AB)behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

³⁵ Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

The Death of David

^10 (A)Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(B)the city of David. ¹¹ And the time that David reigned over Israel was ^(C)forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ^12 (D)So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon's Reign Established

¹³ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, ^(E)“Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ He said, “You know that ^(F)the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, ^(G)for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me ^(H)Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, ^(I)and she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” ²¹ She said, “Let ^(J)Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” ²² King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask ^(K)Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, ^(L)for he is my older brother, and on his side ^(M)are Abiathar^[a] the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(N)“God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! ²⁴ Now therefore ^(O)as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, ^(P)as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent ^(Q)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(R)Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, ^(S)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, ^(T)and because you shared in all my father's affliction.” ^27 (U)So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling ^(V)the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

Gedaliah Murdered

41 ^(A)In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^(B)Mizpah. As they ^(C)ate bread together there at Mizpah, ^2 (D)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, ^(E)whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at ^(F)Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴ On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, ⁵ eighty men arrived from ^(G)Shechem and ^(H)Shiloh and ^(I)Samaria, with ^(J)their beards shaved and ^(K)their clothes torn, and ^(L)their bodies gashed, ^(M)bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. ⁶ And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from ^(N)Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” ⁷ When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. ⁸ But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have ^(O)stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

⁹ Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with^[a] Gedaliah was the large cistern that ^(P)King Asa had made for defense against ^(Q)Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^(R)the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom ^(S)Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to ^(T)the Ammonites.

¹¹ But when ^(U)Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(V)all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at ^(W)the great pool that is in ^(X)Gibeon. ¹³ And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(Y)all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. ^14 (Z)So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to ^(AA)the Ammonites. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(AB)all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, ^(AC)women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from ^(AD)Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed at Geruth ^(AE)Chimham near ^(AF)Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^(AG)whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴ “But when you see ^(A)the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (^(B)let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ^15 (C)Let the one who is on ^(D)the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, ¹⁶ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁷ And ^(E)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸ Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹ For in those days there will be ^(F)such ^(G)tribulation as has not been ^(H)from the beginning of the creation that ^(I)God created until now, and never will be. ²⁰ And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for ^(J)the sake of the elect, whom ^(K)he chose, he shortened the days. ²¹ And ^(L)then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ^22 (M)For false christs and false prophets will arise and ^(N)perform signs and wonders, ^(O)to lead astray, if possible, ^(P)the elect. ²³ But ^(Q)be on guard; ^(R)I have told you all things beforehand.

A Living Sacrifice

12 ^(A)I appeal to you therefore, brothers,^[a] by the mercies of God, ^(B)to present your bodies ^(C)as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.^{[b] 2 (D)}Do not be conformed to this world,^[c] but be transformed by ^(E)the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^(F)discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[d]

Gifts of Grace

³ For ^(G)by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^(H)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^(I)each according to ^(J)the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For ^(K)as in one body we have many members,^[e] and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, ^(L)though many, ^(M)are one body in Christ, and individually ^(N)members one of another. ^6 (O)Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if ^(P)prophecy, ^(Q)in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if ^(R)service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; ^(S)the one who leads,^[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with ^(T)cheerfulness.