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.

David Hears of Absalom's Death

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, ^(L)“Let me run and carry news to the king that ^(M)the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” ²⁰ And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.” ²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. ²² Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” ²³ “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of ^(N)the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David ^(O)was sitting between the two gates, and ^(P)the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer. ²⁶ The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” ²⁷ The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is ^(Q)like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, ^(R)“He is a good man and comes with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, ^(S)“Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” ²⁹ And the king said, ^(T)“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.” ³⁰ And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

David's Grief

³¹ And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For ^(U)the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.” ³² The king said to the Cushite, ^(V)“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, ^(W)“May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.” ^33 [d] And the king was deeply moved and went up ^(X)to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, ^(Y)“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David, when the ^(B)Philistines seized him in Gath.

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

27 ^(A)When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people ^(B)took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. ² And they bound him and ^(C)led him away and ^(D)delivered him over to ^(E)Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

³ Then when ^(F)Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus^[a] was condemned, ^(G)he changed his mind and brought back ^(H)the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? ^(I)See to it yourself.” ⁵ And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, ^(J)he departed, and he went and hanged himself. ⁶ But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into ^(K)the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸ Therefore ^(L)that field has been called the Field of Blood ^(M)to this day. ^9 (N)Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^(O)“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

^11 (P)Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you ^(Q)the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, ^(R)“You have said so.” ^12 (S)But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, ^(T)“Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

^15 (U)Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or ^(V)Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was out ^(W)of envy that they had delivered him up. ¹⁹ Besides, while he was sitting on ^(X)the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^(Y)that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^(Z)in a dream.” ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ^(AA)ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” ^(AB)They all said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³ And he said, “Why? ^(AC)What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^(AD)a riot was beginning, he took water and ^(AE)washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(AF)this man's blood;^{[b] (AG)}see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, ^(AH)“His blood be on us and ^(AI)on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^(AJ)scourged^[c] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (AK)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^(AL)governor's headquarters,^[d] and they gathered the whole ^(AM)battalion^[e] before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put ^(AN)a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they ^(AO)mocked him, saying, “Hail, ^(AP)King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(AQ)they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and ^(AR)led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^32 (AS)(AT)As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ^(AU)carry his cross. ^33 (AV)And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ^34 (AW)they offered him wine to drink, mixed with ^(AX)gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, ^(AY)they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and ^(AZ)kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, ^(BA)the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two ^(BB)robbers were crucified with him, ^(BC)one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And ^(BD)those who passed by ^(BE)derided him, ^(BF)wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, ^(BG)“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ^(BH)If you are ^(BI)the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ^42 (BJ)“He saved others; ^(BK)he cannot save himself. ^(BL)He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ^43 (BM)He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ^44 (BN)And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour^[f] there was darkness over all the land^[g] until the ninth hour.^{[h] 46} And about the ninth hour Jesus ^(BO)cried out with a loud voice, saying, ^(BP)“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with ^(BQ)sour wine, and put it on a reed and ^(BR)gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus ^(BS)cried out again with a loud voice and ^(BT)yielded up his spirit.

⁵¹ And behold, ^(BU)the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And ^(BV)the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of ^(BW)the saints ^(BX)who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into ^(BY)the holy city and appeared to many. ^54 (BZ)When the centurion and those who were with him, ^(CA)keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ^(CB)“Truly this was the Son^[i] of God!”

⁵⁵ There were also ^(CC)many women there, looking on ^(CD)from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ^(CE)ministering to him, ⁵⁶ among whom were ^(CF)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and ^(CG)the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus Is Buried

^57 (CH)When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud ⁶⁰ and ^(CI)laid it in his own new tomb, ^(CJ)which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled ^(CK)a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and ^(CL)the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, that is, after the day of ^(CM)Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how ^(CN)that impostor said, while he was still alive, ^(CO)‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, ^(CP)lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have ^(CQ)a guard^[j] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by ^(CR)sealing the stone and setting a guard.