Hushai Saves David

17 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is ^(A)weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^(B)I will strike down only the king, ³ and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,^[a] and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call ^(C)Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” ⁷ Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,^{[b] (D)}like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall^[c] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^(E)melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ^(F)from Dan to Beersheba, ^(G)as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹² So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” ¹⁴ And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^(H)For the Lord had ordained^[d] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

^15 (I)Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. ¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at ^(J)the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be ^(K)swallowed up.’” ¹⁷ Now ^(L)Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at ^(M)En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at ^(N)Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. ^19 (O)And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. ²⁰ When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook^[e] of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, ^(P)“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” ²² Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ^(Q)his own city. He ^(R)set his house in order and ^(S)hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. ^4 (F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ^5 (G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(H)the brothers of the Lord and ^(I)Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ^7 (J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^(K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

⁸ Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written ^(M)for our sake, because ^(N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ^11 (O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, ^(P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything ^(Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that ^(R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord commanded that ^(S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

¹⁵ But ^(T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For ^(V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with ^(W)a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in my preaching ^(X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For ^(Y)though I am free from all, ^(Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(AA)win more of them. ^20 (AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To ^(AC)those outside the law I became ^(AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ^22 (AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AG)I have become all things to all people, that ^(AH)by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ^(AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(AJ)the prize? So ^(AK)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every ^(AL)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(AM)an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I ^(AN)do not box as one ^(AO)beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and ^(AP)keep it under control,^[b] lest after preaching to others ^(AQ)I myself should be ^(AR)disqualified.

²⁴ Then David came to ^(A)Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Now Absalom had set ^(B)Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,^[a] who had married Abigal the daughter of ^(C)Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. ²⁶ And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, ^(D)Shobi the son of Nahash from ^(E)Rabbah of the Ammonites, and ^(F)Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and ^(G)Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸ brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,^{[b] 29} honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and ^(H)weary and thirsty ^(I)in the wilderness.”

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 ^(J)Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” ^3 (K)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.” ^(L)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 ^(M)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,^{[c] (N)}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 ^(O)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^[d] (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 ^(P)a very great heap of stones. And all Israel ^(Q)fled every one to his own home. ¹⁸ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself ^(R)the pillar that is in ^(S)the King's Valley, for he said, ^(T)“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^[e] to this day.

You Must Be Ready

^35 (A)“Stay dressed for action^[a] and ^(B)keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ and be like men who are ^(C)waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ^(D)knocks. ^37 (E)Blessed are those servants^[b] whom the master finds ^(F)awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ^(G)he will dress himself for service and ^(H)have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ^39 (I)But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ^(J)the thief was coming, he^[c] would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ^(K)ready, for ^(L)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, ^(M)are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is ^(N)the faithful and ^(O)wise ^(P)manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ^43 (Q)Blessed is that servant^[d] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, ^(R)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(S)is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and ^(T)get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come ^(U)on a day when he does not expect him and ^(V)at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ^47 (W)And that servant who ^(X)knew his master's will but ^(Y)did not get ready ^(Z)or act according to his will, will receive a ^(AA)severe beating. ^48 (AB)But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ^(AC)will receive a light beating. ^(AD)Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division

^49 (AE)“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ^50 (AF)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how ^(AG)great is my distress until it is accomplished! ^51 (AH)Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? ^(AI)No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(AJ)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”